Christopher Nolan’s next film, “The Odyssey,” comes with a striking “what if” from his early career. Nolan said in a recent interview, noted by Variety, that Warner Bros. hired him in the early 2000s to direct “Troy,” the studio’s big-budget take on the Trojan War, then shifted the project back to filmmaker Wolfgang Petersen before cameras rolled. Nolan explained that Petersen had developed “Troy” first and reclaimed it after another planned Petersen film at the studio was shelved.
The decision rerouted Nolan toward a different mythic property. “Batman Begins” writer David S. Goyer has described the Batman origin pic as a studio offer made to Nolan after “Troy” left his slate, a make-up gesture that led to the Dark Knight trilogy and set Nolan on a path of large-scale studio filmmaking. Two decades later, he is returning to Homer’s world by adapting “The Odyssey,” moving from the Trojan battlefield of the “Iliad” to Odysseus’ perilous return home after the war.
Universal will release “The Odyssey” on July 17, 2026, with Nolan writing, directing, and producing alongside Emma Thomas. Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, with Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Samantha Morton, and others in key roles.
Principal photography ran 91 days from late February through early August 2025, spanning locations in Morocco, Greece, Italy, Scotland, and Iceland. The production used newly designed IMAX cameras across the full shoot, making it the first feature filmed entirely in that format, and Nolan has said the scale required more than two million feet of film.
The late-career pivot to classical myth has drawn close industry attention, since large studio epics rooted in ancient literature have been rare in recent years. Cast members who have spoken publicly describe a demanding but collaborative set and point to the script’s scope as a major draw. For Universal, the film is positioned as a premium-format event meant to pair Nolan’s technical bravura with one of the oldest narratives in Western storytelling.
