The world's most powerful man is about to fight his greatest battle... between love and glory.
Napoleon, exiled, devises a plan to retake the throne. He'll swap places with commoner Eugene Lenormand, sneak into Paris, then Lenormand will reveal himself and Napoleon will regain his throne. Things don't go at all well; first, the journey proves more difficult than expected, but more disastrously, Lenormand enjoys himself too much to reveal the deception. Napoleon adjusts somewhat uneasily to the life of a commoner while waiting, while Lenormand gorges on rich food.
The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) is a comedy and drama film directed by Alan Taylor, released on August 11, 2001 with a runtime of 1h 47m. It stars Ian Holm, Iben Hjejle, Tim McInnerny and Nigel Terry. Viewers rate it 6.8 out of 10 across 45 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for The Emperor's New Clothes before you stream it.
Ian Holm
as Napoleon Bonaparte / Sergeant Eugene Lenormand
Iben Hjejle
as Nicole 'Pumpkin' Truchaut
Tim McInnerny
as Dr. Lambert
Nigel Terry
as Montholon
Eddie Marsan
as Louis Marchand
Tom Watson
as Gerard
Hugh Bonneville
as Bertrand
Murray Melvin
as Antommarchi
Clive Russell
as Sergeant Justin Bommel
Bob Mason
as Captain Nicholls
Trevor Cooper
as Leaud
Chris Langham
as Maurice
Directed by Alan Taylor, written by Rachel Bennette, Simon Leys and Kevin Molony, produced by Uberto Pasolini.
Average viewer score of 6.8/10 from 45 ratings.
Exiled Napoleon (Sir Ian Holm) and his aides have come up with a cunning plan to get him from exile back into the heart of Paris where he can resurrect his imperial ambitions and restore his country to greatness. They have procured the services of an erstwhile deck hand who is the doppelgänger of the emperor and who has agreed to swap places. Carefully smuggled back to the mainland, the impoverished traveller has…
Reviewed on June 26, 2025
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The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) is currently available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. No subscription streaming option is listed right now, so availability may change.
The main cast of The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) includes Ian Holm, Iben Hjejle, Tim McInnerny, Nigel Terry and Eddie Marsan. The film was directed by Alan Taylor. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
The Emperor's New Clothes was released on August 11, 2001 and runs for 1h 47m.
The Emperor's New Clothes (2001) holds an average rating of 6.8 out of 10 from 45 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy comedy and drama films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official The Emperor's New Clothes trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
