Nolan has a reputation for drawing ensemble casts of A-listers, but "The Odyssey" may be his biggest project yet.

Universal announced on Monday that Damon will play the film's lead hero, Odysseus, and shared a first look of the actor in his costume.

Other stars linked to the film include Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Himesh Patel, Lupita Nyong'o, Benny Safdie, Bill Irwin, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Jesse Garcia, Will Yun Lee, Samantha Morton, Corey Hawkins, Nick Tarabay, Jimmy Gonzales, Maurice Compte, Rafi Gavron, Shiloh Fernandez, and Mia Goth.

Damon, Hathaway, Pattinson, Patel, Safdie, Irwin, and Elliot Page have all previously worked with Nolan.

Hathaway confirmed the casting to Women's Wear Daily in December 2024, shortly before Universal announced the film.

Holland told the "Dish" podcast in December 2024 that he's in the movie but didn't "know anything" about the plot.

Other actors, such as Bernthal, Fernandez, Yee, Garcia, Leguizamo, and Gonzales, seemingly confirmed they would be in the film by posting reports of their castings on their Instagram.

No other roles have been announced for any of the actors, but the major characters left in the story include Odysseus' son Telemachus, the beguiling witch Circe, the monstrous one-eyed cyclops known as Polyphemus, and Poseidon, the sea god.

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 10-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 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 in 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 onto the island, where he 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 also write the script.

Nolan's "The Odyssey" will be partly filmed on the island of Favignana near Sicily, Variety reported.

Known in ancient times as Aegusa, or "goat island," it's 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 sometime in the Spring, is being handled by the Italian company Wildside, which also oversaw the production of Edward Berger's Oscar-nominated 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 used.

Several filmmakers have brought Homer's work to screen over the years, including the Oscar-winning 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 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 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 took less than $1 million worldwide.