Pitch sale: “Anabasis”

Enough with the whole graphic novel / comic book thing. How about reaching back to source material from ancient Greece? That’s what writer Robert Schenkken did for his pitch “Anabasis”:

Columbia will turn the story of an ancient Greek military expedition into an epic action film.

The studio has acquired a pitch for an adaptation of “Anabasis,” a memoir written around 400 B.C. by Xenophon, a Greek soldier who was among 10,000 elite mercenaries who attacked the Persian Empire and who led them back through hostile terrain after their leader was betrayed and slain.

More background here — sounds similar but different than 300 (2006) which grossed $456M worldwide. As one of the project’s producers notes, “Crazy tribes, brutal terrain, vicious combat, hellacious weather — ‘Anabasis’ is full of astounding endurance and heroism.”