Sequel Saturday: Odd Odyssey Duology, by Mat Bradley-Tschirgi
Everything old is new again. Why pay oodles of cash to adapt some has-been 1980’s Saturday morning cartoon franchise when you can adapt public domain works at your heart’s content for free? Francis Lawrence is set on putting his Hunger Games skills to good use lensing an upcoming duology based on Homer’s classic Odyssey epic poem.
Seems kind of late for another one of these fantastical swords and sandals flicks. 300 begat a couple of mediocre lookalikes. The most notable of these was the Titans duology starring that blue bro from Avatar along with a bevy of screaming dudes and dudettes. In the late 1990’s, there was an overlong made for TV movie of The Odyssey starring Armand Assante and a never-ending roster of shitty CG effects that only a modest TV budget can provide.
To make the modern millennials give a shit, I reckon this new Odyssey series will feature minimalist dialogue, a truckload of mopey close-ups, and lots of training montages with little payoff. I imagine violence will be muted to the point of abstraction as an overly percussive score drones in the background. Not looking forward to these. Variety notes plans for “at least two movies”, so maybe Lionsgate will pull a Peter Jackson and drag on an epic tale for longer than any bladder can allow. Perhaps the opening flick will be nothing but Odysseus at sea hurling off the starboard bow.