Outlets have 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.

"I have so many feelings about it that I don't even know how to articulate. It fills me with so much joy, and I don't know how to talk about it," she said. "I love Chris and Emma Nolan so much, and to be invited into their world is, I mean, I know from experience it's one of the best places you can find yourself. Getting to be invited twice really felt like something, three felt like it would've been greedy, so I never let myself hope that that would happen, and that it has makes me emotional, to be perfectly honest. It makes me feel like I'm doing something right."

Nobody has said which role Hathaway — or any of the actors — might play.

Penelope, Odysseus' wife, is the most significant woman in the source material, along with Athena, the goddess of wisdom who watches over Odysseus.

Deadline and THR also reported, citing unnamed sources, that another Nolan veteran, Robert Pattinson, who starred in "Tenet," will also star in the film.

The publications also said Zendaya, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong'o, and Charlize Theron would be in the cast.

Major characters include Odysseus himself, the legendarily cunning hero, as well as his son Telemachus, the beguiling witch Circe, the monstrous one-eyed cyclops, and Poseidon, the sea god who wants Odysseus to suffer.

On December 18, Holland said on an episode of the "Dish" podcast that he is in the film but doesn'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.

He seemed to confirm that Pattinson, Zendaya, and Damon would be part of the cast with him.

This would be the first film Zendaya and Holland had worked together on since 2021's "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

Homer is known for two epic poems, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," 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 the 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 Ithaka, supplanting his son Telemachus and convincing Penelope to marry one of them.

In a dramatic conclusion, Odysseus sneaks back to the island and slaughters the suitors, 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.

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 starring Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, was based on Homer's "The Illiad." It was the most commercially successful Homer adaptation, grossing $497 million worldwide, but received a lot of criticism that it didn't translate Homer's story well.

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 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.