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A film that won't please Bush...
Sydney Morning Herald, 10th of January-03

Air Force One film director Wolfgang Petersen says his new film project, Troy starring Brad Pitt, will not be to US President George W. Bush's liking. "The black-and-white mentality of a George W Bush is totally inappropriate for this film," Petersen, 61, said in an interview with Die Welt newspaper.

Principal photography on the $US130-$US145 million ($A226 -$A252 million) production with Pitt as Achilles is scheduled to begin in April. "I want the audience to be able to identify with both sides," the German director told the paper. "This is not a Bush-style war of good versus evil," he explained.
Far from being a trite topic, the Trojan War is a "timely and moving war drama" full of meaning for our time, he said. "Each side was convinced they were right, so they bashed each other's skulls in all the more," he told the paper.
Although the film "tells a tale of great human tragedy", Petersen said he does not want it to be depressing. "Our goal is that of the classical Greek tragedies," he said. "They allow the audience to experience the tragedy of the world and draw their own conclusions."

Bringing the glory of Homer's Iliad to life, Troy charts the bloody path of the Trojan war, which encompasses a 10-year conflict, numerous bloody battles and of course that famously large wooden horse with a surprise inside.
Pitt takes the lead as legendary Greek hero Achilles with Eric Bana standing on the other side of the wall as Trojan prince Hector. Orlando Bloom's Paris is the man who provokes the wrath of Menelaus, the Spartan king - by spiriting away his beautiful wife Helen - the face that launched 1,000 ships and a decade-long war.

Befitting Homer's epic poem The Iliad upon which it is based, the picture will have a running time of two and three-quarters hours, Petersen said. Even so, Petersen concedes he is taking liberties with Homer, deleting some of the more arcane bits, including the metamorphosis of Greek gods into human form.

(...)

Troy is a long-time personal dream-come-true for Petersen, who was entranced by Greek and Roman myths when he was a schoolboy. "The money may come from Hollywood, but this is very much a European production, with most shooting being done in Europe and North Africa," stressed Petersen. "Nearly half the film is to be shot in Morocco."
The Warner Brothers project will begin filming in London, Malta and Morocco in April for a 2004 release.