Christopher Nolan has presented some stunning footage from "The Odyssey" at CinemaCon for exhibitors. Nolan called the filming experience a "nightmare" but one that was also satisfying. “This has been an absolute nightmare to film — but in all the right ways. We had an amazing time,” he said.
The "Inception" director also praised leading man Matt Damon's work. The actor had collaborated with Nolan twice before "The Odyssey" — in "Interstellar" and "Oppenheimer".
“He [Damon] was there on the boats, up the mountains, in the caves, in the beating sunshine, sideways rain, wind,” Nolan added. “You’ll be pleased to know how difficult it was. It was meant to be; that’s the nature of this story.”
Entertainment portal Variety has given a taste of the presented footage. "Most of the footage revolved around 'the story of the horse' — the famous Trojan horse attack, which the Greeks used as cover to enter the city of Troy at the end of the war. As the massive wooden figure washes up on the beach, thousands of men have to pull the Trojan horse out of the water and onto the sand before they can wheel it into the city. In the tense and thrilling sequence, the Greeks are forced to stay quiet as the Trojans plunge swords into the statue to see if anything was hidden, with one blade even slicing into the face of a hidden soldier. Later, there are shots of Odysseus urging his soldiers to keep rowing through a storm, and then slinging arrows as they launch their full-scale attack in the dark of night. The footage ended with a quick shot of Odysseus and his soldiers as they face the man-eating cyclops Polyphemus; the massive brute picks up a man in his hand before the screen cuts to black," said the article.
Also featuring Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Charlize Theron, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo and Himesh Patel, “The Odyssey” was shot in multiple locations — Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland and Scotland. It's the first movie ever to be shot fully with IMAX cameras.
It goes without saying that watching "The Odyssey" on anything less than a huge theatre screen would be a missed opportunity. One gets the feeling that the film would look as splendid on a Cinemascope/Anamorphic aspect ratio (2.39:1) screen as on any of the Flat/True IMAX/Full Container aspect ratios (1.85:1, 1.43:1, 1.90:1).
"The Odyssey" is set for release on July 17, 2026.
