Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey: Release Date, Plot & Everything We Know
Nolan is a master of the epic, and it would be hard to choose better material for his magnum opus.
Christopher Nolan's ambitious epic The Odyssey has already begun shooting and the star-studded cast is eye-catching. We tell you everything we know about one of the most anticipated films.
The Odyssey Release Date
Christopher Nolan's movie about Odysseus, the main character of Homer's second poem, will be released in 2026. For such a global project, the remaining time seems to be very little, especially since the original story covers ten years of adventures and several thousand years of interpretations.
The premiere date is set for July 17 next year. It is worth noting that this is not the first time the director has chosen the summer months to launch his projects: Oppenheimer, Dunkirk, the Batman films and Inception were released in the summer.
The Odyssey will be the most expensive film of Nolan's career: its official budget already exceeds $250 million. The cost is not only influenced by the expensive cast, but also by the special IMAX cameras that will be used to shoot the film.
The Odyssey Plot
If the Iliad illustrates the quest and the siege of the city, the Odyssey is responsible for the homecoming plot.
What the movie will tell is generally known even to those who are not familiar with Homer's text: the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, sets out on a journey home after the ten-year Trojan War.
His journey takes another decade because of a quarrel with the god of the sea, Poseidon: the hero meets the Sirens and the Cyclops Polyphemus, the monstrous Scylla and Charybdis, sorceresses, nymphs, and princesses.
Odysseus' adventures prevent his return in every way, so the hero's son Telemachus goes in search of his father. And Odysseus' faithful wife Penelope still waits for him at home, even though several neighboring rulers are actively courting her.
The Odyssey Cast
The first news about Nolan's film appeared in October 2024, and only last December it became known that the director was planning a film adaptation of Homer's epic, in which Matt Damon will play the lead role.
The role of Odysseus' wife Penelope in the new project will most likely be played by Anne Hathaway, and Telemachus will be played by Tom Holland. Zendaya will also star in the movie: she could play the nymph Calypso or the sorceress Circe.
At the end of December, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron, who may also be in the running for the role of Penelope, confirmed their participation in the project. If Theron plays Odysseus' wife, then Anne Hathaway may get the role of the goddess Athena, the main patroness of the hero.