British filmmaker Ridley Scott has returned to Malta to film Napoleon, the biopic that the nine-time Oscar winner (with Alien, Thelma&Louise, The Gladiator and Black Hawk Down) has decided to make giving the role of Bonaparte to Joaquim Phoenix and of his wife Josephine to Vanessa Kirby, ANSA reports.

The film, produced by Apple Studios, will be set in various locations in Malta, including the roads of Valletta, the historic Fort Ricasoli (which will be presented as Toulon, theater of Napoleon's first victory) and the ancient capital of Mdina.

This is the third time in Malta for Scott, 84, where he filmed White Squall in 1996 and the Gladiator in 2000.

The idea of a war film on the story of Napoleon Bonaparte in the past was the dream of many filmmakers, including Stanley Kubrick who was unable to make his project, now resumed by Scott.

"Napoleon was a man who has always fascinated me - the filmmaker told MaltaToday -. He came out of nothing to command everything, but at the same time he carried forth a romantic war with his adulterous wife Josephine. He conquered the world to try to conquer his love but he was unable to do it, he conquered it to destroy it. And in the meantime he destroyed himself".