Warner Bros. picks Rupert Sanders from a shortlist of directors to helm its Napoleon movie

Although Warner Bros. had fed rumors that its upcoming Napoleon Bonaparte biopic would be a good fit for Martin Scorsese, Variety reports that the studio has instead chosen Rupert Sanders, a director of somewhat lesser stature, to helm the picture. After he built a career with short 60-second TV commercials, Sanders made his feature-film debut last year with Snow White And The Huntsman. Don’t let his diminutive résumé fool you, though: Snow White grossed upwards of $380 million, a total that dwarfed most of the film’s box-office competitors in 2012. Warner has hopes for similar success with this film, so it’s small wonder that the studio is looking to add a little star power—perhaps with Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role. But for a major project like a Napoleon film, the casting process is bound to be complex.