With “Star Wars” now born again into either a wellspring of creative repair or a dismal continuation of recent mediocrity, studios are taking the time to cloud the sci-fi genre periphery with their similarly fantastical projects. As such, what better time to usher in a prime addition to that mix-and-match development style, as Warner Bros aims to revitalize Homer's text with a new space “Odyssey.”
Having thoroughly attempted such recent sword-and-sandal epics as “Troy” and “Alexander,” Deadline reports WB has been swayed via a pitch by young writer James DiLapo — seen on last year's Black List with his script “Devils at Play” — to opt for an upgrade in footwear with a version of Homer's “The Odyssey” set in space. The idea originated with 1821 Pictures' Terry Douglas and his partner Paris Kasidokostas (“The Box”), who brought it to the studio as a project with Brad Pitt fleetingly attached, before DiLapo repackaged it and garnered the plush writing gig.
Pitt has since departed the project, but alongside producers David Heyman (“Harry Potter”) and Jeff Clifford, WB hopes DiLapo's work will lead them into a new lucrative franchise, one set to plumb the depths of Greek mythology and render them interstellar. And while the entire concept of a sci-fi “The Odyssey” retelling could convincingly pass as the newest “Star Wars” spin-off, the tale of Odysseus' journey home from the Trojan War to his wife Penelope still retains in its essence a promising launch pad, and one that's worth at least a cursory glance to see what genre twists DiLapo has up his sleeve.
