Vanessa Kirby replaces Jodie Comer in Ridley Scott's Kitbag

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It’s been revealed that Jodie Comer will now not be working with Ridley Scott again on his next movie, with Vanessa Kirby stepping in.

Ridley Scott continues to be a busy man. Having released in 2021 The Last Duel with Adam Driver, Matt Damon and Jodie Comer, followed by House Of Gucci,he’s planning to get the cameras rolling on his Joaquin Phoenix-starring Napoleon epic, Kitbag, at some point early this year. We can imagine that’s quite a lot of tight scheduling for everybody involved, and unfortunately, late-in-the-day production shifts mean that co-star Jodie Comer has been forced to leave the production, due to scheduling conflicts.

Comer was cast back in March last year opposite Phoenix, in the role of Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon’s first wife. Whilst Scott was apparently unfamiliar with Comer’s acclaimed turn in the TV drama Killing Eve, he has spoken about impressed he was with her work during the filming The Last Duel.

Comer is understandably said to be ‘upset’ with this development, but with her star so clearly on the rise, other opportunities will no doubt present themselves. Set to star instead opposite Joaquin Phoenix, is The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby, who also featured in Mission: Impossible – Fallout and Hobbs & Shaw.

The character of Joséphine is a crucial one to the film’s narrative, with Scott saying last year, “Napoleon is a man I’ve always been fascinated by. He came out of nowhere to rule everything — but all the while he was waging a romantic war with his adulterous wife Joséphine. He conquered the world to try to win her love, and when he couldn’t, he conquered it to destroy her, and destroyed himself in the process.”

Apple is financing the project, which reportedly has a nine-figure budget. We’ll bring you more casting news on this one as we hear it.