![The Odyssey: Nolan's Epic Arrives](https://cdn.slatesource.com/3/3/e/33ebf4ff-8097-4f83-a30f-b836e04c0da8.webp) # The Odyssey: Nolan's Epic Arrives - [Made in Slatesource](https://slatesource.com/@steph/the-odyssey-nolan-s-epic-arrives) - By [Steph](https://slatesource.com/@steph) - Created on Aug 5, 2026 Nolan's 13th feature First film since Oppenheimer (2023) Estimated budget $250 million (Universal Pictures) World premiere London, July 6, 2026 US release July 17, 2026 (IMAX and all formats) Historic format First film shot entirely on IMAX 70mm cameras IMDb most anticipated Ranked No. 1 film of 2026 journey·5 Chapters # Odysseus: The Voyage Home What Happens / Chapter "Ten years of war. The wooden horse works. Troy falls. Odysseus, king of Ithaca, sets sail for home with his fleet, expecting a quick return. The gods have other plans. His hubris in the hour of victory offends Poseidon, god of the sea, who will torment him every mile of the way. "Odysseus and his crew land on the island of the Cyclops Polyphemus, son of Poseidon. Several men are eaten before Odysseus blinds the Cyclops with a sharpened stake and escapes clinging beneath a ram. He shouts his name as they flee. Poseidon hears it. "The witch-goddess Circe turns half the crew into pigs. Odysseus, protected by the herb moly given by Hermes, resists her magic and forces her to restore his men. They stay on the island for one year. Circe warns him of what lies ahead and sends him to the underworld first. "Odysseus descends to Hades to hear the prophecy of the blind seer Tiresias. He speaks with the shade of his own mother, who died of grief in his absence. Sailing on, he has his crew plug their ears with beeswax and lash him to the mast so he alone can hear the Sirens without being destroyed by them. "Squeezed between the six-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, Odysseus loses six men. He orders the crew not to touch the sacred cattle of Helios on Thrinacia. While he sleeps, they do. Zeus destroys the ship with a thunderbolt. Odysseus alone survives. The IMAX Decision Nolan filmed every frame on IMAX 70mm cameras, the first director in history to do so for an entire feature. The cameras record images roughly 6x larger than standard 35mm film. In IMAX-certified theatres the picture fills the full frame from floor to ceiling. IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond described it as technology "never used before in this way." Tickets for IMAX 70mm screenings sold out within hours of going on sale in 2025, a full year ahead of release. The Controversy The trailers drew strong reactions. Critics raised concerns about modern American accents in ancient Greece, costume choices, and visible anachronisms Nolan has said are deliberate. He cited Akira Kurosawa's Ran and Andrei Rublev as inspirations, arguing that Homer's poem has always been reinterpreted for its own era. Audience tracking dipped in some markets following the backlash, though IMAX pre-sales remain among the highest in Universal's history. > Homer's poem survives because it speaks to something permanent in human experience. Loss, longing, the cost of pride, the strange mercy of home. We did not set out to recreate ancient Greece. We set out to feel what it costs a man to finally arrive. The film reunites several cast members from Nolan's recent work: Cillian Murphy's absence is noted, but Robert Pattinson (Tenet, 2020) returns as Antinous, the lead suitor. Tom Holland (Telemachus) and Zendaya (Athena) reunite on screen for the first time since Spider-Man: No Way Home. Matt Damon, in his first Nolan film, trained for six months in sword work and sailing technique. The production shot across Morocco, Greece, Italy, Scotland, Iceland, Western Sahara, and Malta over seven months. [The Odyssey (2026) on IMDb: full cast and release details](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt33764258/?utm_source=slatesource)