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Director Ridley Scott says the real director’s cut of his new film Napoleon is not the three-and-a-half-hour version that comes to Apple TV+ later this year, but the shorter cinema cut, which has an hour shaved off.

Scott tells Sky News: “I think that’s what the director’s cut is – the two and a half hour – that’s the truth of it. Because I learned early on, basically from all the films I’ve done, but also from early days as a commercial maker. Am I communicating and how tight can I be to communicate and say everything I want?”

And it turns out he employs a special technique to ascertain when enough is enough.

Pic: Apple Original Films/Columbia Pictures/ Aidan Monaghan
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Pic: Apple Original Films/Columbia Pictures/ Aidan Monaghan

“I have something that’s called the bum ache factor – you’re sitting there going, ‘Oh God, there’s another hour!’ You got to be really sure that you’re running a three-and-a-half-hour movie that’s actually worthwhile, people get weary.

“When I’m cutting… you’re constantly watching out for ‘Where are we bending and why is it bending?’ Is it because I’m tired or is it because this story’s just going on too long?”

Clocking in at two hours and 38 minutes, the shorter version is far from swift, but there are lots of battles to fit in, including Waterloo, Toulon and Napoleon’s greatest victory, at Austerlitz in 1805.

Scott admits, “longer can be a disaster,” calling it “a natural fault” most directors “wrestle with”.

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Pic: Apple Original Films/Columbia Pictures/ Aidan Monaghan
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Pic: Apple Original Films/Columbia Pictures/ Aidan Monaghan

Regardless of length, just making the movie is an achievement. Stanley Kubrick, Charlie Chaplin, Steven Spielberg and Baz Luhrmann all saw their dreams to portray Napoleon on the silver screen shot down.

But Scott, as his reputation suggests, is not a man to be defeated. A notoriously forthright filmmaker, he’s also not averse to quizzing his interviewers as they attempt to question him.

Luckily, this reporter appeared to pass the test, correctly answering the question, “Which historic figure can claim the most films made about them?” (Jesus, in case you’re wondering).

Pic: Apple Original Films/Columbia Pictures/ Aidan Monaghan
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Pic: Apple Original Films/Columbia Pictures/ Aidan Monaghan

Napoleon clocks in at second place, with 10,400 books written about him, one for every week since he died, according to Scott.

On tweaking history: ‘I don’t think it matters’

Of course, there has been a minor fuss about the film’s trifling historical inaccuracies (Napoleon watches Marie Antoinette’s execution and his troops fire upon the Pyramids – neither of which happened in real life), and a few sniffs about lead actor Joaquin Phoenix‘s US accent throughout.

Scott cares not a jot: “If he talked in an Italian accent, people would have criticised me. And if he talked in a French accent, they would have criticised the French. So, it’s best to just go back to what [Joaquin] was.

“If you’re engaged by him, be engaged by him. And I think and I’m fully engaged by anything Joaquin does so I never even question it… I don’t think it matters.”

Speaking Italian when he arrived in France from Corsica, Scott says Napoleon learnt French in just two months.

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But aside from the debate over how much artistic licence is too much, most UK and US reviews have been positive. The French reaction, however, has been less warm.

‘They look for anything that can find fault’

Scott says he’s far from surprised.

“I had a major premiere in France with a big room of a lot of important people. Their reaction was very, very, very enthusiastic. So, they’re going to look for anything that can find fault, but they always do, I’m used to it.”

Luckily, he’s of the opinion that “there’s only one critic that is worth anything, that’s yourself”.

And whether it’s his inner critic that keeps him working or not, he’s certainly not showing any signs of slowing down.

A prolific worker, South Shield’s born Scott started out in advertising, where he says he made two adverts per week in his heyday.

The poster for 1982's Blade Runner
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The original 1982 Blade Runner poster

He was nearly 40 when he made his first feature film, and now at 85, has 28 under his belt, including Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma & Louise, all of which have made their mark on popular culture.

He’s also made numerous TV programmes, and now with his deal with Apple TV+ finished a pilot for them called Sinking Springs, about the drug problem in Philadelphia.

‘I feel alive when I’m directing’

Not to be held up by the US actor’s strike, he used the time away from shooting to edit the 90 minutes of Gladiator 2, starring Irish actor Paul Mescal, which was already in the can, and now the actors are back at work he’ll be wrapping it by Christmas.

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Gladiator 2 stars Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington

As for his next film, he’s already cast it, written it, and set it up ready to go, as he says, “I’m always in prep – slightly ahead”.

So, at 85, what’s the secret to his impressive productivity?

“I love the energy of it. I feel I’m alive when I’m a shooting director… I just love the stress. You’ve got to embrace stress – if you don’t, don’t do the job.”

As for what gets him up in the morning, he says: “Drive is… You’re born with it or not…I have no criticism for anybody who just wants to take a holiday, holiday is not in my jurisdiction. I mean, three days’ holiday is fine. Then what?”

With Ridley Scott, the “then what” is the question always on his lips, and like the flawed military genius at the heart of his film, action is the answer to conquering the world.

Napoleon is in cinemas now, before streaming on Apple TV+

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Paul Gallagher, older brother of Oasis stars Noel and Liam, is charged with offences including rape

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Paul Gallagher, older brother of Oasis stars Noel and Liam, is charged with offences including rape

Paul Gallagher, the older brother of Oasis stars Noel and Liam, has been charged with multiple offences including rape.

The Metropolitan Police said Gallagher, 59, of East Finchley, north London, has been charged with rape, coercive and controlling behaviour, three counts of sexual assault, three counts of intentional strangulation, two counts of making a threat to kill and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The offences are reported to have taken place between 2022 and 2024. The charges follow an investigation which began last year, the force added in a statement.

A woman is being supported by specially-trained officers, the statement continued.

Paul Gallagher, who is about one year older than Noel and seven years older than Liam, has never been involved in Oasis.

He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 27 August.

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Gregg Wallace speaks out after MasterChef sacking

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Gregg Wallace speaks out after MasterChef sacking

Gregg Wallace has spoken about his sacking from MasterChef after inappropriate behaviour while working for the BBC – but insisted he is “not a groper, a sex pest or a flasher”.

Wallace, 60, has apologised after a report, commissioned by the cooking show’s production company Banijay UK, found 45 out of 83 allegations were substantiated.

In an interview with The Sun, he said: “I know I have said things that offended people… I understand that now – and to anyone I have hurt, I am so sorry.

“I don’t expect anyone to have any sympathy with me but I don’t think I am a wrong ‘un.”

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BBC reputation damaged by ‘serious errors’

MasterChef co-host John Torode also had an allegation that he used an “extremely offensive racist term” upheld, as part of the same investigation.

Torode, who insisted he had “absolutely no recollection” of the alleged incident, has not had his contract for the show renewed.

Wallace has now defended Torode, saying: “I’ve known John for 30 years and he is not a racist.

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“There is no way that man is a ­racist. No way. And my sympathies go out to John because I don’t want anybody to go through what I’ve been through.”

Former MasterChef presenters John Torode and Gregg Wallace. File pic: PA
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Gregg Wallace has defended his former MasterChef co-host John Torode (left). File pic: PA

At one point, Wallace became tearful during the interview when describing the impact of the investigation on his family.

“I have seen myself written about in the same sentence as Jimmy Savile and Huw Edwards, paedophiles and sex offenders. That is just so, so horrific.”

In respect to the specific allegation of unwanted touching, Wallace denied groping a woman and said that, while he was attempting to flirt with her, he did believe the contact it was consensual.

“She gave me her phone number. I considered that to be intimacy. It was 15 years ago. Me, drunk, at a party, with my hand on a girl’s bum,” he said.

He also accepted he had briefly appeared with a sock on his private parts in front of four colleagues in MasterChef studio. But he said his is not a flasher, and people were either “amused or bemused” but not distressed.

Read more from Sky News:
Actor Micheal Ward charged with rape
Jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine dies
BBC reveals highest-earning stars

On the broader allegations about using inappropriate language, Wallace accepted the criticism and suggested that some of his conduct could be explained by his autism and his background.

“I know I am odd. I know I struggle to read people. I know people find me weird. Autism is a… registered disability. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not real.”

He also blamed his former career: “I’m a greengrocer from Peckham. I thrived in Covent Garden’s fruit and veg market. In that environment that is jovial and crude. It is learned behaviour.”

Wallace told the newspaper he is now scared to appear in public: “I go out now in a disguise – a baseball cap and sunglasses, I don’t want people to see me. I’m scared.”

On Wednesday, the BBC confirmed a series of MasterChef filmed last year, before allegations against presenters Gregg Wallace and John Torode were upheld, will still be broadcast.

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Company at heart of Coldplay viral video releases tongue-in-cheek clip – with a big twist

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Company at heart of Coldplay viral video releases tongue-in-cheek clip - with a big twist

The company at the centre of a viral video at a Coldplay concert has released a tongue-in-cheek clip on social media – featuring Gwyneth Paltrow as a “temporary spokesperson”.

Astronomer was thrust into the spotlight after two of the tech firm’s senior executives were filmed embracing on a kiss cam during a gig in Boston.

Andy Byron subsequently resigned as chief executive officer – while the woman in the video, Kristin Cabot, stepped down as chief people officer a few days later.

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Tech boss resigns after viral Coldplay concert video

Paltrow, who used to be married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, is seen sitting at a desk in the new video uploaded to X – and begins by thanking the public for their interest in Astronomer.

She adds: “I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer.

“Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days – and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”

A question is then typed out on the screen that reads: “OMG, what the actual…”

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Before the final word appears, the video cuts back to Paltrow, who goes on to promote some of the services Astronomer offers.

In a subtle nod to the countless column inches the company has attracted, Paltrow adds: “We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation.”

Another question then pops up on screen, which begins to type out: “How is your social media team holding up?”

But before the sentence fully appears, Paltrow abruptly interrupts by declaring that Astronomer has spaces at an upcoming conference in September.

Astronomer

“We’ll now be returning to what we do best: delivering game-changing results for our customers,” she adds at the end of the video.

The marketing stunt is a sign that Astronomer is trying to put a positive spin on the scandal, which sparked feverish speculation online.

After Mr Byron resigned, the company had said in a statement: “Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding.

“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”

Woman hides her face

Pete DeJoy, who has taken over as interim CEO, admitted on Monday that the company has faced an “unusual and surreal” amount of attention in recent days.

On LinkedIn, he wrote: “While I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”

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