16/01/2003 - The Irish director is inspired by mythology and Ulysses' return to Ithaca, for his new feature, shooting next spring

Irish director Neil Jordan is set to direct the sword-and-sandals epic entitled Odysseus' Return in the spring, produced by Uberto Pasolini (The Full Monty).
The film, based on an original screenplay by Edward Bond, focuses on Ulysses’ return to Ithaca where his wife, Penelope, is courted by many suitors who believe Odysseus to be dead. Helped by his son, Telemachus, Ulysses kills the suitors and reveals his true identity.
The ambitious project will be financed by the former head of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Michael Kuhn, via the deal he has with a German film Fund and 20th Century Fox.
The Oscar winning director of The Crying Game and Interview With The Vampire and his habitual producer-cum-business partner Stephen Woolley suffered a major setback last year when their $55m (Euros55m) project Borgia was put on ice because of problems in raising the necessary financing.
Odysseus’ Return will not however be produced by Woolley, although he and Jordan continue to be partners in the “Company of Wolves” production house and have several projects in the pipeline. They include Conor McPherson’s The Actors with Michael Caine, scheduled for release in 2003. Jordan’s most recent film was The good thief [+see also:
trailer
film profile] with Nick Nolte, Tcheky Karyo, Said Taghmoui and Emir Kusturica.