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Universal Pictures Presents Footage from Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' at Las Vegas Event

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Christopher Nolan Presents 'The Odyssey' Footage at CinemaCon

Universal Pictures showcased new footage from Christopher Nolan's upcoming IMAX event film, "The Odyssey," at the CinemaCon trade show in Las Vegas. The director attended the event, receiving a standing ovation, and presented an extended look at his adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic poem to an audience of theater exhibitors.

Nolan stated his desire was to bring the ancient story to a modern cinema audience, identifying the film's central themes as "family" and "homecoming."

Scenes from the Presentation

The footage shown included multiple key sequences:

  • A scene featuring Matt Damon as Odysseus speaking with Charlize Theron as the nymph Calypso. In it, Odysseus, held on her island for seven years after the Trojan War, questions her about his past, asking if he had a wife, children, or a son.
  • A scene with Tom Holland as Telemachus being told about the Greek raid on Troy and the Trojan War by Jon Bernthal's character, Menelaus.
  • A sequence depicting the Trojan horse being pulled into the city of Troy, followed by Greek soldiers emerging from it at night to end the war.
  • Additional footage included scenes of Odysseus and his soldiers rowing through a storm, launching a night attack, and a brief shot of a confrontation with the cyclops Polyphemus.

Production & Cast Details

The project was first announced in December 2024. Nolan directed from his own screenplay and produced the film with Emma Thomas.

The ensemble cast is extensive, including Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, Cosmo Jarvis, Michael Vlamis, and Iddo Goldberg. Sources from the presentation also list John Leguizamo and Himesh Patel as cast members.

According to Nolan's statements, filming took place across multiple countries: Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, and Scotland.

Nolan stated the film is "almost finished." He described the filming process as "an absolute nightmare to film" but added that it was "in all the right ways" and that the crew "had an amazing time doing it." He referred to Matt Damon as his "partner on this journey" and called his work "incredible."

A Technical Milestone: Full IMAX Filming

A key technical aspect highlighted was the film's groundbreaking use of IMAX cameras.

Nolan stated that "'The Odyssey' is the first feature film to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras." He described achieving this as a "long-held dream" and his "longest-held ambition."

His goal was to film dialogue scenes using the same IMAX approach as action sequences, without switching aspect ratios—a technique that differs from his previous films like "The Dark Knight," which used IMAX cameras only for specific action sequences.

Release & Context

"The Odyssey" is scheduled for release in IMAX theaters on July 17, 2025.

The film follows Nolan's previous collaboration with Universal Pictures on "Oppenheimer," which received 13 Academy Award nominations and won 7, including Best Picture and Best Director. "Oppenheimer" also performed notably in IMAX format, with the premium format contributing approximately 20% of its overall box office gross.