A mythic action epic awaits the director of ‘Oppenheimer’, and he’ll be using « brand new IMAX film technology », according to Universal… Here’s what you need to know.
ADVERTISEMENTFollowing his Oscar-winning success with Oppenheimer, famed director Christopher Nolan will delve into Greek poetry.
Yes, he’s messed with our memories (Memento), played vigilante (The Dark Knight trilogy), dabbled in magic (The Prestige), fiddled with our dreams (Inception), been to space (Interstellar), tackled wartime conflicts (Dunkirk) and done whatever the hell Tenet was. Now, after speculation that his next film would be a period vampire movie, the 54-year-old director is officially tackling one of the foundational texts of Western literature.
Universal studios has revealed that the British-American filmmaker’s new film is The Odyssey, an adaptation of the epic poem composed by Homer around the 8th century BCE.
“Christopher Nolan’s next film The Odyssey is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology,” the studio announced in a message posted to X. “The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.”
For this next film, he’s bringing along with him some of his regulars like Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson, alongside Nolanverse newbies like Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, and Charlize Theron.
“The Odyssey” tells the story of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and his perilous, decade-long journey home after the Trojan War. The tale includes encounters with the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the witch-goddess Circe.
Yep, it doesn’t get more epic.
This is not the first time that a filmmaker has attempted to do justice to Homer’s ancient Greek and seemingly “unfilmable” poem.
There’s been Mario Camerini’s Ulysses (1954), Andrei Konchalovsky’s miniseries The Odyssey (1997), and it also has inspired other films like the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and Troy (2004). Currently, Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche can be seen playing Odysseus and Penelope in Uberto Pasolini’s The Return.
The Odyssey will start shooting early next year and marks Nolan’s second film for Universal after the award-winning Oppenheimer.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is set to hit theaters on 17 July 2026.
