Lionsgate is today calling forth the song of a Muse as Deadline reports that plans are underway to develop a new big screen take on Homer’s ancient poem, The Odyssey. Francis Lawrence, who directed the second, third and fourth films in The Hunger Games franchise will helm with Mockingjay scribe Peter Craig writing and Nina Jacobson, responsible for the entire Hunger Games franchise, producing.
Believed to have been written near the end of the 8th century BC, The Odyssey is a sequel of sorts to Homer’s The Iliad. It follows the adventures of the warrior Odysseus and the fantastic trials and tribulations he encounters on his decade-long journey home to Greece after the fall of Troy. Among the obstacles he encounters in his journey are the Cyclops Polyphemus, the six-headed Scylla, the whirlpool sea monster Charybdis and, as pictured above in the 19th century painting by John William Waterhouse, the birdlike sirens.
The Odyssey has been adapted several times for the big screen in various iterations, ranging from the straightforward 1954 adaptation Ulysses, starring Kirk Douglas in the lead, to Joel and Ethan Coen’s 2000 hit, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, starring George Clooney in a musical 1930s adaptation set in the deep south.
Production on The Odyssey is planned to begin in early 2016 with Erik Feig, Jim Miller and James Myers overseeing for Lionsgate.
