Happy Feet director George Miller has reportedly been approached by Warner Bros. to direct an outer-space version of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey. According to Daily Variety, the studio has offered the starring role to Brad Pitt, who turned in a scene-stealing performance as Achilles in the 2004 Warner Bros. epic Troy, an adaptation of Homer’s The Iliad.
A sequel of sorts to The Iliad, The Odyssey chronicles Odysseus’ struggle to return home from the Trojan War. In his perilous travels, he encounters treacherous seductresses and various mythical creatures such as the Cyclops. Troy was a worldwide box-office hit, but many criticized it for omitting the element of divine intervention, which factors heavily into both stories. We’ll have to wait and see if Pitt will be fighting CG-animated space aliens standing in for the titans of Greek myth.
If Pitt agrees to take on the role of Odysseus, he is likely to also produce through his Plan B shingle. The actor next appears under heavy effects makeup for much of director David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and will also be seen in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life. He’s currently at work on Quentin Tarantino’s remake of the Italian WWII actioner Inglourious Basterds.
Miller, who also made the Mad Max fims, is still trying to get a Justice League movie off the ground at Warner Bros. Bringing together such iconic DC Comics superheroes as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and The Flash, the pic was being fast-tracked before the writers’ strike, but was placed on the back burner due to script and casting issues.
