Odyssey

Opening in theaters July 17, 2026

One of the most anticipated films in years is almost here. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey brings Homer’s ancient epic to the big screen in what is shaping up to be the cinematic event of the summer. From a jaw-dropping cast to revolutionary IMAX technology, here are five reasons the hype is completely justified.

1. Christopher Nolan Is at the Peak of His Powers

Fresh off Oppenheimer sweeping the Oscars, Nolan arrives at this project as arguably the most powerful director in Hollywood. He has spoken candidly about the fact that he spent his entire career building toward a film of this scale, noting that when he was originally attached to a Troy adaptation years ago, he was in a little over his head, and that he needed to build on what he learned doing large-scale films to be able to make this one. This feels less like another entry in his filmography and more like a culmination of it, a director finally matched to the material he was born to make.

2. A Cast That Is Almost Unfairly Stacked

The ensemble assembled for The Odyssey reads like a fantasy draft of the best working actors in Hollywood. Matt Damon leads as Odysseus, surrounded by Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, and Samantha Morton. In a surprise casting choice, rapper Travis Scott also appears in the film. Nolan explained he cast Scott to draw a connection between rap and oral poetry as analogous art forms, a creative swing that says a lot about the boldness of his vision for this project.

3. A Groundbreaking IMAX Experience

The Odyssey is not just a big movie, it is a technological milestone. It marks the first time Homer’s foundational saga has ever been brought to IMAX screens, and Nolan does not stop there. IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond has confirmed that Nolan uses never-before-seen IMAX technology in the film. It is also the first of Nolan’s films to be shot entirely on IMAX 70mm, meaning every single frame was captured at the highest possible resolution and scale. If there was ever a film designed to demand to be seen in a theater, this is it.

4. Shot on Location Across the Ancient World

Rather than defaulting to green screens and volume stages, Nolan took his cast and crew to the actual landscapes that inspired the original myth. Filming took place across Morocco, Greece, Italy, Scotland, Iceland, Western Sahara, and Malta. The result is a film rooted in real geography and real light, giving it a visual authenticity that no studio backlot could ever replicate. When Odysseus sails treacherous seas or navigates rugged coastlines, audiences will be watching real places, adding a weight and texture to the world that is increasingly rare in modern blockbusters.

5. A Fresh and Fearless Take on a Timeless Story

Perhaps most exciting of all is Nolan’s creative approach to the material itself. Rather than treating the source text as a museum piece, he drew particular inspiration from the acclaimed 2017 translation of the Odyssey by British-American classicist Emily Wilson, alongside the imaginative practical effects work of legendary filmmaker Ray Harryhausen. That combination, grounded in literary scholarship yet channeling old-school cinematic wonder, promises something genuinely unlike anything audiences have seen before. This is not a dusty mythology lesson. It is a mythic action epic with real ideas behind it.

The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan and distributed by Universal Pictures, opens worldwide on July 17, 2026.