There’s no better time to be a fan of The Odyssey. The literary classic has never stopped being influential, but Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film adaptation is set to turn Homer into a hot property in Hollywood, and Epic: The Musical will fan the hype further.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the musical project is getting the animated movie treatment from Jerry Bruckheimer, the heavyweight producer behind the Top Gun and The Pirates of the Caribbean titles, with original creator, composer, songwriter, producer, and performer Jorge Rivera-Herrans also on board. No cast members or other staff have been announced, but it’ll reportedly be shopped around to studios and streamers starting next week.
The adaptation marks Bruckheimer’s first foray into animation and is the latest addition to Rivera-Herrera’s milestones that include four billion global streams on Apple iTunes and seven billion short-form views worldwide. Epic: The Musical started as the latter’s senior thesis at the University of Notre Dame and gained immense popularity on TikTok in 2021, after which the self-released EPs occupied nine of the top 10 listings on the soundtrack charts.
The nine-part series was completed in 2024 with “Ithaca Saga”, concluding Odysseus’ quest to return home from Troy after the Trojan War. Along the 10-year, well, odyssey, he encounters encounters mutiple gods and monsters who either help or hinder him in his quest to reunite with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. A second musical titled “Ilium”, inspired by Homer’s other epic, The Iliad, is in the works, while two video games are in production.
As for Nolan’s The Odyssey, the Greek hero will be played by Matt Damon, who leads a star-studded cast comprising Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway (Penelope), Robert Pattinson (Antinous), Zendaya (Athena), Charlize Theron (Calypso), Jon Bernthal (Menelaus), Benny Safdie (Agamemnon), and more. Lupita Nyong’o, Logan Marshall-Green, Elliot Page, Ryan Hurst, James Remar, Samantha Morton, and Josh Stewart have been cast in undisclosed roles.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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