Sandals Galore

What is it about ancient Greeks these days, eh? Nary a hint of a leather sandal for years and now suddenly we can't move for hunky Hellenic heros pouring onto our cinema screens. With Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom strapping on the armour for Wolfgang Peterson in Troy and Baz Lurhman and Oliver Stone having their own personal battle to get their Alexander the Great epics in the can first, it's now the turn of director Neil Jordan to plunder the classics library. And it's the big boy himself – namely Greek poet Homer – that the director of The Crying Game and The End of Affair has so wisely chosen in the shape of the scribe's second major work, the Odyssey, which details Greek hero Odysseus' tortuous ten-year journey home after the fall of Troy. Entitled Odysseus' Return, the epic will combine a stonking good historical sweep with the more personal, human drama of one man's return home. In the humble opinion of Empire Online, it's also just one of the best stories ever told. All signs look good for Jordan's second attempt at an ambitious European epic after the stalling of his previous project, Borgia, the story of the infamous Renaissance family. Although Ewan McGregor was committed to starring as the head of the clan that make the Osbornes look distinctly normal, the star had to pull out due to delays caused by financial wranglings. Odysseus' Return meanwhile – provided the money behind the project comes through – is ready to shoot this year to furnish us with yet another sword and sandals epic to quicken our modern souls.