The new trailer for the epic film Napoleon has been viewed 17 million times in just two weeks, thanks to the classic Black Sabbath song War Pigs.
Napoleon, hitting the big screen on Wednesday 22 November, has been directed by legendary British filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott, who turns 86 on 30 November. Just three days later on 3 December, Ozzy Osbourne celebrates his 75th birthday. Jim Simpson, Black Sabbath’s original manager, says that fusing the pair’s talents together on the trailer seems to have been a masterstroke.
Jim, himself now in his 80s and yet still operating Big Bear Music from offices on Broad Street, Birmingham, said: “The Napoleon trailer is fabulous, showcasing the visual talents of Ridley Scott with the unmistakable sound of Ozzy Osbourne’s vocals and Black Sabbath’s timeless music.
“That 17 million have already watched this second trailer in just two weeks is proof of how the first two Sabbath albums I managed the releases of in 1970 will live forever.” Shot in England and Malta, Napoleon (15, 157 mins) stars Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix (The Joker) as Napoleon, alongside Mission: Impossible star Vanessa Kirby as Josephine.
A four-and-a-half hour director’s cut for Apple TV+ is expected to follow its cinema release. Meanwhile, Black Sabbath was originally four working class guys from Aston, and the band members were immortalised on Broad Street, Birmingham in June 2019 when guitarist Tony Iommi and bass player Geezer Butler unveiled the Black Sabbath Bench, on the renamed Black Sabbath Bridge.
War Pigs is the opening track on the second album Paranoid, the band’s first No 1 that was released in September 1970, just six months after the original Black Sabbath LP. Jim, who also runs the longstanding Henry’s Blueshouse at The O Bar, opposite the Black Sabbath Bench, added: “The ultimate proof of Sabbath’s enduring appeal is that they still have an army of fans all around the world across many different age groups and cultures.
“In the trailer for a film set more than 200 years ago, you can hear a crystal-clear Ozzy singing Geezer’s lyrics in the anti-war song War Pigs: ’Generals gathered in their masses, just like witches at black masses…’ and it sounds absolutely perfect. Like Beethoven, Mozart and all of the other great composers, you can imagine Sabbath’s made-in-Birmingham music will still be played and appreciated in 200 or more years’ in the future, too.”
The official trailer on Sony Pictures’ YouTube channel which features Ozzy, released on 18 October, had 17,526,000 viewings at the time of uploading this story.
