Joaquin Phoenix to play Napoleon in Ridley Scott's Kitbag

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After winning his first Oscar for playing the title role in Joker, Joaquin Phoenix has set his sights on something smaller. Well, shorter would be more accurate.

Phoenix will star as Napoleon Bonaparte in Kitbag, a new film from director Ridley Scott, EW has learned. The title of the movie comes from the phrase "There is a general's staff hidden in every soldier's kitbag," according to Deadline, which first reported the news.

Kitbag will chronicle Napoleon's origins and rise to emperor through the perspective of his volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine. Screenwriter David Scarpa, who adapted Scott's All the Money in the World, is working on a script.

Scott is currently finishing up production on the period film The Last Duel, which stars Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, and Ben Affleck. He's set to start filming his movie with star Lady Gaga about the murder of Guccio Gucci's grandson Maurizio next year. Kitbag is currently planned to start filming after that.

Phoenix and his wife, Rooney Mara, just welcomed their first child in September. They named their son River, after Phoenix's late brother.

Phoenix won Best Actor at the Academy Awards for Joker earlier this year, as well as similar Best Actor awards from the Golden Globes, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild.

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