Outlets reported in October and November — before it was public what the film would be — that several A-listers were in the frame for Nolan's next project.

Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter said, citing unnamed sources, that Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, who starred in Nolan's "Interstellar," would feature.

Hathaway confirmed the casting when speaking to Women's Wear Daily in early December, shortly before Universal announced the film on X.

Other actors who have boarded the project include Robert Pattinson, Himesh Patel, Elliot Page, and Bill Irwin — all of whom have previously worked with Nolan.

Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Benny Safdie, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, and Samantha Morton will fill out the ensemble cast.

Marvel star Tom Holland has also been tapped for the film, with Deadline reporting that the actor would play a "lead" role.

Major characters include the warrior Odysseus himself, the legendarily cunning hero, as well as his son Telemachus.

There is also the beguiling witch Circe, the monstrous one-eyed cyclops known as Polyphemus, and Poseidon, the sea god.

On December 18, Holland said on an episode of the "Dish" podcast that he is in the film but that he didn't "know anything about" the plot, which was at the time a secret.

"I'm super excited. Everything is very hush-hush. I met with him it was awesome. He kind of loosely pitched what it was, and I'm sure when he's ready, he'll announce what it is," he said.

Homer is the attributed author of two ancient Greek poems that were composed in the 8th or 7th century BC, both of which tell the story of the Trojan War.

"The Iliad" narrates the end of the war, while "The Odyssey" tells of the ten-year struggle by Odysseus to return to his island home, Ithaka.

During the journey, Odysseus and his crew fight against a man-eating cyclops, powerful giants, and sirens. They defeat witches and sea monsters, and anger the Zeus and Poseidon. But Odysseus has Athena on his side, trying to help him get home.

Meanwhile, a band of suitors are trying to take over Odysseus' kingdom on Ithaca, supplanting his son Telemachus and convincing Penelope to marry one of them.

In a dramatic conclusion, Odysseus disguises himself as a beggar and sneaks back on to the island, where observes the actions of the suitors before reclaiming his family and kingdom.

This will be Nolan's first film about Greek mythology, breaking away from his regular sci-fi and war films. Nolan will be writing the script for the movie.

Per a Variety report, Nolan's "The Odyssey" will be partly filmed in on the Sicilian island of Favignana, which is part of the Egadi archipelago.

Favignana — known in ancient times as Aegusa, meaning "goat island" — is thought to be the inspiration for the fantastical island where Odysseus lands with his crew and stops to rest, barbecue goats, and drink wine before his run-in with the Cyclops.

Shooting on the island, which is set to begin in sometime in the Spring, is being handled by the Italian company Wildside, which also oversaw the production of Edward Berger's Oscar-nominated Papal drama "Conclave" in Rome.

Per Variety, the scenes shot in Sicily are said to take up the bulk of the mythical action in the movie, while locations in the UK and Morocco are also being utilized.

Several filmmakers have brought Homer's work to screen over the years, including the Oscar-winning directing sibling duo the Coen Brothers and Oscar-nominated German director Wolfgang Petersen.

Petersen's "Troy," which premiered in 2004 and starred Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, was based on Homer's "The Illiad." It was the most commercially successful Homer adaptation, grossing $497 million worldwide. However, it received mixed reviews, with some criticizing it for not translating Homer's story well. The film currently holds a 53% Tomatometer rating on the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes.

Pitt told The New York Times Magazine in 2019 that he was "disappointed" by the film, and the experience made him pivot toward "quality stories" for the rest of his career.

The Coen Brothers' "O Brother, Where Are Thou" and the 2004 "The Spongebob Squarepants Movie" are two other Hollywood that are movies loosely based on "The Odyssey."

Homer's work has also been adapted into multiple TV series, including the 1997's "The Odyssey," which starred Christopher Lee and Vanessa Williams.

The most recent adaptation was "The Return," directed by Italian filmmaker Uberto Pasolini and starring Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus. The film, which is a retelling of the final sections of the epic poem, received positive reviews from critics but failed to make a splash at the box office, grossing less than $1 million worldwide.