Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’: Everything We Know So Far
Just before the holidays, Universal Pictures said that Christopher Nolan would adapt Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’ for the big screen, ending months of uncertainty about his next project after the success of ‘Oppenheimer’, which earned him the Best Director Oscar.
The 24 books that make up Homer’s Odyssey are a great work of literature. It centres on Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, and his ten-year journey home following the Trojan War. He encounters many difficulties along the road and finds out that his crew has perished. Important figures in the narrative include Odysseus’ son Telemachus, his wife Penelope, and the gods Zeus, Poseidon, Circe, and Athena.
The first printed Greek version of the narrative appeared in 1488, and historians put its composition between 750 and 650 BC. ‘The Odyssey’ has been researched, adapted, and parodied many times over the years. Some examples of these adaptations are the silent film from 1911, the ‘Kirk Douglas’ starring Ulysses from 1954, and the Coen brothers’ comedy ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ from 2000.
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With confirmed cast members including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron, Nolan’s adaption has already drawn a lot of talent. Among the returning Nolan colleagues are Pattinson, who starred in Tenet, and Damon, who starred in ‘Oppenheimer’. It has been more than ten years since Hathaway and Nolan last collaborated, but they have previously worked together on ‘Interstellar’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’.
This will be the first time that Holland, Zendaya, Nyong’o, and Theron have collaborated with Nolan. Following their appearances in the ‘Spider-Man’ movies, Holland and Zendaya, a real-life couple, will rejoin on screen.
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‘The Odyssey’ will be shot globally utilizing brand-new IMAX film technology, according to Universal Pictures’ release. Nolan gained notoriety for employing IMAX cameras to shoot ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Dunkirk’, ‘Tenet’, and ‘Interstellar’. Along with writing and producing the movie, Nolan will once more work with his wife and longtime collaborator Emma Thomas, who took home the Best Picture Oscar for ‘Oppenheimer’.
The tweet teases a “mythic action epic shot across the world,” however it’s unclear how closely Nolan will adhere to the original plot. Production is expected to start in 2025, and the movie will be released globally in July 2026. ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Dunkirk’, ‘Inception’, and ‘The Dark Knight’ are among the films that Nolan has released in the same month in the past.
–Farheen Ali
