It’s been five years since Warner Bros. offered up Troy, Wolfgang Petersen’s old-fashioned epic based on Homer’s Iliad – and clearly the studio feels that there’s an appetite for more of the same, for they’ve just announced Odysseus, a movie that could almost be packaged as Troy 2.
Based on a script by Ann Peacock, Odysseus tells the story of the legendary Greek king, warrior and hero, who was of course the leading figure in Homer’s Odyssey. Odysseus won’t focus on his rambling ways, though – instead, it will find Odysseus returning home to Ithaca after twenty years of fighting the Trojan Wars, only to find that his own kingdom has been invaded by a brutal occupying force. Which even Alanis Morisette would find somewhat ironic (hot topical reference alert!).
It all sounds suitably epic. 300 producer Gianni Nunnari, no stranger to men running around in skimpy costumes waving swords, will oversee the movie, with up-and-coming director, Jonathan Liebesman set to, well, direct, just as soon as he’s finished with apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, Battle: Los Angeles.
Sean Bean played Odysseus, with considerable aplomb, in Troy, but given that this isn’t a direct sequel, it’s unlikely that Bean will be asked to dig out his 100% blade for Odysseus. Brad Pitt’s out for obvious reasons, so if you can think of any actor of a certain age and stature who could pull it off (steady now…), let us know in the comments section below.