There’s a good reason that The Odyssey has survived some 3,000 years: it’s one of the great – and one of the first – works of Western literature. Plus it’s a sequel to boot. And what’s not to like? You have a classic hero, Odysseus, who endures incredible adventure and hardship just to get home to his family over the span of ten long years, after having been at war for ten years before that. And there are Cyclopses, Sirens, a giant sea monster and a whirlpool standing in his way just to name a few of the obstacles. Of course, the majority of the adventure takes place in the journey to get home, with only last mission for the hero when he gets there: to waste a houseful of freeloaders who are looking to bang his wife and take his kingdom. The bloodbath that ensues when Odysseus and his son, Telemachus, clean house is great, but kind of hard on which to base an entire film upon. That is until now.
Variety has word that Jonathan Liebesman (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) is set to direct Odysseus, a new take on the hero’s’ return home. Liebesman and writer Ann Peacock successfully pitched the concept Warner Bros. The project is described as Greek lit hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, who returns to his island
after 20 years of fighting the Trojan Wars only to find his kingdom
under the brutal occupation of an invading force, which he ultimately
defeats. So after everything the guy goes through to get home, rather than just having to whack a flew slobs in his house, he’s now got to fight another army. Peacock has cred in the fantasy / adventure genre, having penned The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Gianni Nunnari (300) is set to produce. No word on casting as yet.