While anticipation for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has been high, many internet users and film enthusiasts were surprised when they saw Tom Holland's character Telemachus mouthing a modern English dialogue, "Dad is coming home" in the first trailer, leading to a wave of backlash targetting Nolan's dialogues and his research for the film.
Responding to the criticism, Nolan said that the use of modern English was intentional as he wanted an "earthy narrative".
In an interview with the LA Times, Nolan said he wanted to use "language that has emotional not intellectual meaning to people." "I was maybe being naive, it might bite me on the a**, but I wanted an earthy narrative. To me it was a no-brainer," he said.
He called Homer, whose epic dates back to around the 7th or 8th century BC, as his co-writer on the movie. For the unversed, the film which is based on Greek king Odysseus' (Matt Damon) long and ardous 10-year-long journey after the Trojan war to reunite with his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland).
Describing the story of The Odyssey as an important one in his career, Nolan added, "As a filmmaker, you are looking for a gap in the culture and this felt like an important one.. That world felt like it hadn't been addressed. Ray Harryhausen did it working on a shoestring, but the opportunity to take this on - on a big scale - was there, and it hadn't been there before."
Meanwhile, for the first time in his celebrated career, Nolan is set to bring The Odyssey to India for an official premiere event. Mumbai has been chosen as one of the key destinations for the global promotional campaign which is to be held on July 10 and 11 at PVR ICON: Phoenix Palladium.. He will be accompanied by the film’s stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, and Oscar-winning producer Emma Thomas.
Ahead of its release on July 17, the epic fantasy action film has been receiving rave reviews globally from critics and audiences who caught it at the London premiere recently. The film is also eyeing a massive opening at $100-120 million in just North America alone with $120-150 million in overseas markets, beating his own film Oppenheimer, and the recent hits Michael and Project Hail Mary.
The star-studded cast also features The film also stars Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Jesse Garcia, Will Yun Lee, Rafi Gavron, Shiloh Fernandez, Mia Goth, among others.