Nolan turns Homer’s epic into a globe-trotting IMAX event with The Odyssey.
Christopher Nolan is heading back to the biggest screens with “The Odyssey,” a mythic action epic that opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026. The film adapts Homer’s Greek saga and brings it to IMAX screens for the first time. Nolan is filming worldwide with new IMAX technology, furthering his large-format spectacle.
Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, king of Ithaca. The story follows his long, brutal journey home after the Trojan War as he fights to reunite with his wife, Penelope, while facing constant danger.
A Classic Journey With Nolan-Size Stakes
Homer’s “Odyssey” plays like a survival thriller, jumping from sea monsters to gods to betrayals. Nolan’s version will treat each chapter as an event. Nolan describes Odysseus as complex and brilliant—a strategist, defined by cleverness and inventiveness. This fits Nolan’s usual leads: thinkers who survive using their minds.
That approach also aligns with the film’s promise: a grounded, visceral epic that remains larger than life.
Cast and Characters: Gods, Suitors, and Warriors
Nolan has assembled a strong ensemble led by Matt Damon as Odysseus, fighting home after the Trojan War. Tom Holland plays Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, searching for his father, while Anne Hathaway’s Penelope holds their world together as suitors circle. Robert Pattinson is Antinous, the aggressive suitor challenging Penelope, and Zendaya portrays Athena, the goddess watching over Odysseus. Charlize Theron takes on Circe, the goddess and witch, bringing new temptation and threat. The cast also includes Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, Himesh Patel as Eurylochus, Will Yun Lee as a shipmate, Mia Goth as Melantho, and Lupita Nyong’o.
Between Athena and Circe alone, the movie can pivot from war drama to full-on myth.
Where “The Odyssey” Fits in Nolan’s Career
Nolan has spent his career turning big ideas into crowd-pleasing movies, first breaking out with twist-driven thrillers like “Memento.” He then reshaped blockbuster filmmaking with “The Dark Knight” trilogy. He followed with dream-heist ambition in “Inception,” space-bound emotion in “Interstellar,” and large-scale tension in “Dunkirk.” Nolan kept experimenting with time in “Tenet,” then delivered a major awards player with “Oppenheimer.”
Now he moves to myth. If his track record holds, he’ll treat it as a full-body event, not homework.
“The Odyssey” opens in theaters on July 17th, 2026.
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Sean Tajipour
Sean Tajipour is the Founder and Editor of Nerdtropolis and the host of the Moviegoers Society and Reel Insights Podcast. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association. You can follow on Twitter and Instagram @Seantaj.
