TROY

22 years before THE ODYSSEY, Hollywood and Homer cheerfully collided via Wolfgang Petersen's megabucks, star-studded, outrageously entertaining epic of the Trojan War.

In fact, back in 2003 Sir Christopher was all set to direct with Petersen producing, before the man behind Das Boot, Air Force One and In the Line of Fire decided to take over himself. (Nolan of course landed on his feet in Bruce Wayne's batcave....)
Scholars of THE ILIAD were left choking on their popcorn by many of the wild liberties TROY's scriptwriter David (GAME OF THRONES) Benioff took with the original text, many designed to put Brad Pitt's swaggering golden-boy Achilles front-and-centre wherever possible — while strenuously avoiding any suggestions the great hero might be anything other than 100% red-blooded heterosexual.
Backing up Pitt and charismatic movie-stealer Eric Bana as his Trojan counterpart Hector, the ultra-stacked cast includes Brian Cox and Brendan Gleeson as bloodlusty Greek kings Agamemnon and Menelaus, the glorious Peter O'Toole as Trojan monarch Priam, a "divine" Julie Christie (as Achilles's goddessy mama) plus then-rising stars Rose Byrne as Achilles' feisty love-interest Briseis, Diane Kruger as an amusingly Eurotrashy Helen of Troy and Orlando Bloom channelling Legolas as her bow-and-arrow-toting boyfriend Paris...
And, last but very far from least, Sean Bean as (apologies, Matt!) cinema's coolest, wiliest Odysseus. Who did not die. (Neil Young)