The new image from ‘The Odyssey’ shows Matt Damon leading his army, and Nolan warns: “It truly contains all stories”
The director of ‘Interstellar’ raises expectations with his new work.
Christopher Nolan raises his fans’ expectations considerably. After ‘Oppenheimer’ in 2023, 2026 will be the year of ‘The Odyssey,’ Homer’s epic, adapted by one of the most fashionable directors around. The new image of Matt Damon as Ulysses makes a big impression in the film, a moment that the filmmaker has used to send powerful messages about the movie.
Nolan’s dream comes true: ‘The Odyssey’ is a personal project
‘The Odyssey’ is the result of Nolan’s quest to bring the mythological cinema he loves so much to life. “As a filmmaker, you’re looking for gaps in cinematic culture, things that haven’t been done before. And what I saw is that all of this great mythological cinematic work that I had grown up with – Ray Harryhausen movies and other things – I’d never seen that done with the sort of weight and credibility that an A-budget and a big Hollywood, IMAX production could do,“ he explains in an interview with Empire. He promises that ”it truly contains all stories” from the original work.
One of the key elements of the film is the sea. The crew spent 91 days alongside the cast sailing and filming across the vast ocean. “I’ve been out on it for the last four months. We got the cast who play the crew of Odysseus’ ship out there on the real waves, in the real places. And yeah, it’s vast and terrifying and wonderful and benevolent, as the conditions shift.”
For Nolan, it was essential to convey that authenticity, filming in real conditions and situations where it is clear that they are immersed in a journey where the maps have not been drawn. “We really wanted to capture how hard those journeys would have been for people. And the leap of faith that was being made in an unmapped, uncharted world,” he concludes.
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‘The Odyssey’ is set to be next summer’s big hit. It will be released in theaters on July 17, 2026.
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