The ancient Greek epic Odyssey has endured for centuries as the greatest of hero’s journeys – compulsory reading for history and literature students, and the source material of acclaimed films such as 1911’s Italian silent classic L’Odissea, the Coen brothers’ bluegrass musical O, Brother Where Art Thou, and the ‘culturally, historically or aesthetically significant’ (yes) The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
But perhaps the true purpose of Homer’s 24-volume epic was to be filmed with massive new IMAX cameras by Christopher Nolan. Here’s everything we know about the Interstellar filmmaker’s take on the Greek epic poem.
When was The Odyssey announced?
Months after his Oppenheimer Oscar sweep, it was announced that the director’s next project would be a ‘mythical action epic’ based on The Odyssey. On December 23, 2024, devout ‘Nolanists’ were given the news as an early Christmas present on social media. Two, if you include the extra intel: it’s all happening in the director’s beloved IMAX format.
Christopher Nolan’s next film ‘The Odyssey’ is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.
— Universal Pictures (@UniversalPics) December 23, 2024
Nolan has anyway been the poster child for IMAX cameras, relying on the format to film Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, and more recently, Oppenheimer. The Odyssey will also mark Nolan’s second collaboration with Universal Pictures after Oppenheimer, having cut ties with his previous home Warner Brothers.
Who stars in The Odyssey?
Every Nolan film comes with a stellar ensemble cast and The Odyssey is already sailing in that direction. While it’s still uncertain who exactly will play Odysseus, the homebound king of Ithaca, the cast already includes multiple A-listers. Many have previous with Nolan, including Matt Damon, who last played the mustached Lt Leslie Groves in Oppenheimer and cameoed as a backstabbing astronaut in Interstellar.
His fellow Interstellar-er Anne Hathaway also reunites with Nolan, for whom she has, of course, played Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises. Tenet star Robert Pattinson returns for his second Nolan collab.
Other A-list additions to the cast include Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, and Charlize Theron. Holland and Zendaya, who teased their engagement at the Golden Globes, will be working together for the first time since the MCU Spider-Man films.
As of January 2025, the cast also includes John Leguizamo, Elliot Page and Benny Safdie. For Leguizamo, this marks the comedian and Romeo + Juliet actor’s first Nolan collaboration. Meanwhile, Page previously crossed paths with Nolan, starring in Inception. Safdie, mostly known as one-half of the directing duo Safdie brothers (Uncut Gems), is also an actor and played Hungarian-American physicist Edward Teller in Oppenheimer.
Will Nolan’s regular muse Michael Caine also come out of retirement to play a silver-haired Greek god or a Homeric poet? We’d love to see it.
Where is The Odyssey being filmed?
The Odyssey will span several European and North African locations. Deadline reports that Nolan’s Greek epic will be shot partly in Favignana, a tiny island off the north-west coast of Sicily. Interestingly, scholars believe that Favignana was described by Homer as an island where Odysseus and his crew stopped by to butcher goats and stock up on their meat supplies. In fact, the island’s name in ancient Greek was Aegusa, aka ‘goat island’. Shooting at Favignana is expected to commence in early 2025.
Other confirmed locations include Sicily’s Aeolian islands and several spots in the UK and Morocco. Despite the actual Odyssey being set in Greek territories like Ithaca and other islands around the Aegean Sea, Greece hasn’t been confirmed as a filming choice for Nolan’s film yet.
What will The Odyssey be about?
It’s still unclear if Nolan will stick faithfully to Homer’s text or put a revisionist spin on it. But as Universal promises a mythical experience, we can expect the Oscar winner to stick to the original settings and premise. Believed to have been written around the 8th century BC, The Odyssey is a follow-up to Homer’s Iliad and recounts the decade-long journey of Odysseus after the Trojan War.
Once the king of Ithaca, Odysseus spends ten gruelling years on the sea to reunite with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus. Expect one-eyed cyclops, lotus-eating drug addicts, whirlpool giants, and a sea monster with a woman’s upper torso. And, of course, Greek mythology OGs like Poseidon, Zeus and Athena.
Judging by Nolan’s tendency to use practical effects, it won’t be surprising if he decides to realistically recreate a whirlpool for his version of The Odyssey. After all, here’s the man who grew 500 acres of corn for a cornfield chase (Interstellar) and crashed a Boeing 747 into a hangar (Tenet).
Will Nolan reunite with his usual creative collaborators?
So far, the only confirmed collaborator is Emma Thomas, Nolan’s regular producer and wife. The Oscar winner has produced every Nolan film since 1998’s Following.
An ambitious undertaking like The Odyssey on IMAX can hopefully bring back Hoyte van Hoytema, Nolan’s cinematographer since Interstellar. As for the music department, it’s tempting to imagine Hans Zimmer conducting a Greek lyre-and-harp orchestra. But if the German maestro is still on Dune duties (he’s currently working on Dune: Messiah), Nolan might turn towards his Tenet and Oppenheimer composer Ludwig Göransson.
When will The Odyssey be released?
With filming starting in 2025, The Odyssey eyes a global theatrical release on July 17, 2026. Summer releases have often worked in Nolan’s favour, with Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer all July releases.
With more than a year left for The Odyssey’s release, it’s time to brush up on your Homer. Pick up that dusty copy and indulge in some light afternoon reading. Just 24 volumes to go…
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