'The Odyssey' trailer: Christopher Nolan promises absolute cinema in Matt Damon epic
The first trailer for Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' promises to be an absolute cinematic experience. The clip opens with Matt Damon's Odysseus, King of Ithaca, who is shown to be leading his men home after the ravaging Trojan War, but not without danger presenting itself in many forms.
While the trailer does not introduce any monsters as mentioned in the poem, which includes Polyphemus the Cyclops, Sirens, the nymph Calypso, and the witch goddess Circe, the perils are far from over for Odysseus and his men. The footage also shows Anne Hathaway as Odysseus’ wife Penelope and Tom Holland as Odysseus’ son Telemachus. Also starring are Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, and Lupita Nyong’o.
Per Universal, the description attached to the trailer reads, "Christopher Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey, is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX® film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026. The Odyssey stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Lupita Nyong’o, with Zendaya and Charlize Theron. The Odyssey is produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan for their company, Syncopy. The executive producer is Thomas Hayslip."
Earlier, Nolan spoke of the mindset behind making the epic. "By embracing the physicality of the real world in the making of the film, you do inform the telling of the story in interesting ways,” he told Empire. "Because you’re confronted daily by the world pushing back at you.” It’s quite literally Nolan vs. the world. And the winner, as ever, will be cinema."
"As a filmmaker, you’re looking for gaps in cinematic culture, things that haven’t been done before," he added. "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."
'The Odyssey' is in theaters on July 17, 2026.
