Matt Damon is doubly excited for Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated feature The Odyssey. The noted actor is working on a period drama after an intense science fiction Oppenheimer with the filmmaker. Speaking to Empire magazine in a new interview, Matt Damon describes the epic historical drama, an adaptation of Homer’s Greek epic, as a "cinematic blockbuster" that "exactly what you want of a summer movie."
“It should be the most massively entertaining film. It should feel mythic," said the Martian actor. The Odyssey stars Matt Damon in the titular role as the King of Ithaca, who takes an arduous journey back home after the Trojan War. Noting that the film was the best experience in his career, the actor recalled a striking scene from the set, "I saw the [Trojan] horse on the beach and I was just like, ‘F***.’ It was just so cool."
"If you’re having an existential crisis tied to the mast as you pass the Sirens, it’s there. If it says you’re running for your life from a Cyclops, you’re going to run for your life. Chris doesn’t hide the ball," he added, noting that The Odyssey shows everything.
It also stars Tom Holland as Odysseus's son Telemachus, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, and Jon Bernthal, among others. Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Rafi Gavron, and Shiloh Fernandez are also part of the cast.
Production on The Odyssey commenced this February and has taken place in locations including Italy, Morocco, Malta, Greece, Iceland, Scotland, Western Sahara, and Los Angeles. It wrapped shooting in August. The film reunites Nolan with his Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, Oppenheimer cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema. The film, which Nolan is also producing with his wife Emma Thomas under their Syncopy banner, has been shot with 70 mm IMAX cameras. Its technical team also includes composer Ludwig Goransson, who works with Nolan again after Tenet and Oppenheimer.
The Odyssey is made with a reported budget of about $250 million, causing it to be one of the costliest Christopher Nolan directorials of all time. The film is slated for a July 17, 2026, release in theatres worldwide through Universal Pictures.
