Fedor Bondarchuk to make Hollywood debut with new film version of the Odyssey

Russian blockbuster filmmaker Fedor Bondarchuk has been hired by Warner Brothers to direct Odysseus, an upcoming film based on Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey, which follows the ten year-long journey home of Greek hero Odysseus after the Trojan War. Best known for directing Russia’s highest-grossing film ever, the wartime epic Stalingrad, which brought in $55 million at the box office in 2013, Bondarchuk’s US directorial debut marks the first Russian-to-Hollywood crossover for nearly six years, following Russian-Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov’s US jaunt in 2008 to direct the American movie Wanted.

Although Bondarchuk has revealed little about the production timeline, cast or location, others known to be joining the Russian director include Jeremy Doner, screenwriter for American remake of Danish TV series The Killing, and producer Gianni Nunnari, known for his work on films The Departed and 300.