Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche
ARTURO HOLMES / GETTY IMAGES; CARLOS ALVAREZ / GETTY IMAGES

The Return, a historical epic based on Homer’s ancient classic The Odyssey, re-unites Fiennes and Binoche more than a quarter century after they starred together in Oscar winner The English Patient. The film is set to begin production in Greece this spring in the regions of Corfu and the Peloponnese, before continuing in Italy. Set up as an Italy-Greece-U.K.-France co-production with Giorgos Karnavas and Konstantinos Kontovrakis producing for Heretic.

Uberto Pasolini, director of Nowhere Special and producer of The Full Monty, will direct the feature from a script he co-wrote with Edward Bond (Blow-Up, Walkabout) and John Collee (Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World).

Synopsis
After 20 years away, King Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. Much has changed in his kingdom since he left to fight in the Trojan war. His beloved wife Penelope (Binoche) is now a prisoner in her own home, hounded by her many ambitious suitors to choose a new husband, a new king. Their son Telemachus, who has grown up fatherless, is facing death at the hands of the suitors who see him as an obstacle in their relentless pursuit of Penelope and the kingdom. Charlie Plummer (Lean on Pete) will play Telemachus.

The Return is produced by Uberto Pasolini and James Clayton for Red Wave Films, Roberto Sessa for Picomedia with Rai Cinema, and Stéphane Moatti, Romain Le Grand, Vivien Aslanian and Marco Pacchioni for Kabo Films and Marvelous Production, Giorgos Karnavas and Konstantinos Kontovrakis producing for Heretic. Andrew Karpen and Kent Sanderson will executive produce for Bleecker Street.