‘The English Patient’ Stars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche to Reunite for New Take on Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’

Uberto Pasolini will direct the film “The Return” being presented to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival

Ralph Fiennes Juliette Binoche The Return
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Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, who starred together in the Oscars Best Picture winner “The English Patient” from 1996, are set to reunite in a film that’s a new take on Homer’s epic “The Odyssey.”

Uberto Pasolini, a producer on “The Full Monty” from 1997, will direct Fiennes and Binoche in “The Return.” The film is described as an original take and retelling of Odysseus’ return home from war. John Collee (“Master & Commander,” “Hotel Mumbai”). UK playwright Edward Bond (“Blow-Up”) wrote the script.

HanWay Films has come aboard “The Return” to handle worldwide sales and present the film to buyers at the Cannes Film Festival and Marché du Film next month. Here’s the full synopsis for the film:

After 20 years away Odysseus (Fiennes) washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The King has finally returned home but 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 and 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.  Odysseus has changed too. Scarred by his experience of war, he is no longer the mighty warrior his people remember. But he is forced to face his past in order to rediscover the strength needed to save his family and win back the love he has lost.

“The Return” is produced by James Clayton and Pasolini for Red Wave Films. Roberto Sessa’s Picomedia is providing funding.

“I feel enormously fortunate to be able to bring Homer’s world alive through the great talent of Juliette and Ralph, whose powerful screen presence is matched by the fearlessness they bring to their work,” Pasolini said in a statement.

“This is the Odyssey as we’ve never seen it before, no gods or monsters but instead an elemental thriller with a traumatized veteran forced to return to violence in order to save his loved ones,” Clayton added. “It’s an honor to help Uberto realize his vision of this journey of the soul with such extraordinary actors.”

Fiennes is represented by Dalzell and Beresford Ltd and CAA. Binoche is represented by CAA and Artmedia.

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