Some of the biggest blockbusters in recent memory are still yet to be released in 2026, but it’s Christopher Nolan’s upcoming fantasy event that has us most excited. Since the late 1990s, Christopher Nolan has established himself as one of the greatest filmmakers in history, and he is showing no sign of slowing down. After hits including Memento, The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, Tenet, Oppenheimer, and more, The Odyssey marks Nolan’s next major movie.
The Odyssey marks the latest live-action adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic, the Odyssey, the oldest surviving work of literature written in about the eighth century BC. The story spans 20 years, promising to make Christopher Nolan’s adaptation one of the most expansive fantasy movies of all time. Nolan’s previous work and the movie’s remarkable story and cast have raised anticipation for The Odyssey, which is scheduled to hit theaters on July 17, 2026.
The Odyssey Tells An Almost 3000-Year-Old Story Spanning 20 Years
Although numerous characters and creatures appear throughout Homer’s Odyssey, the core of the story follows the heroic King of Ithaca, Odysseus. The epic details his exploits during the Trojan War and then explores his homecoming journey from Troy to Ithaca, which takes an additional 10 years. During this time, Odysseus and his crew face many perils, ultimately leaving him as the sole survivor of his mission to return to his wife, family, and people.
As fantasy stories go, Homer’s Odyssey is perhaps the most legendary, long-lasting, and complex. It was no surprise, then, that Universal Pictures announced in December 2024 that Christopher Nolan’s next movie would be an adaptation of the Odyssey. Previous adaptations include 1954’s Ulysses, which starred Kirk Douglas as the titular hero, the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? from 2000, which is very loosely based on the epic, and 2024’s The Return, starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.
Nolan’s adaptation promises to be a true retelling of the story, however, depicting a realistic interpretation of Greek mythology and with a heavy reliance on special effects, sound design, production design, and character development. The movie is expected to be almost three hours long, which, even for Nolan, may only just be enough time to tell a condensed version of this monumental story. Some could argue Nolan’s adaptation will be the fantasy movie event of the decade or even century, and few would disagree.
The Odyssey Has One of Cinema’s Most Stacked Casts Ever
One of the things that makes The Odyssey so exciting is the movie’s unbelievable cast of actors. Matt Damon (The Martian) was the first star attached to the movie, after previously collaborating with Nolan on Oppenheimer and Interstellar. Tom Holland (The Impossible) joined later, along with previous Nolan collaborators, Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises) and Robert Pattinson (Tenet). As Odysseus, Telemachus, Penelope, and Antinous, respectively, Damon, Holland, Hathaway, and Pattinson will take center stage in The Odyssey.
Other major Greek figures and high-profile stars included in The Odyssey are Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra (Lupita Nyong’o), Athena (Zendaya), Calypso (Charlize Theron), Agamemnon (Benny Safdie), Menelaus (Jon Bernthal), the Cyclops Polyphemus (Bill Irwin), Circe (Samantha Morton), Eurylochus (Himesh Patel), Melanthius (Logan Marshall-Green), his twin sister Melantho (Mia Goth), and many, many more.
John Leguizamo, Himesh Patel, Will Yun Lee, Jimmy Gonzales, Andrew Howard, and more will portray members of Odysseus’ crew, while rapper Travis Scott is also set to appear as a bard, alluding to how the Odyssey had been retold through oral poetry. Corey Hawkins, Elliot Page, Jesse Garcia, Rafi Gavron, Ryan Hurst, Maurice Compte, Iddo Goldberg, Josh Stewart, Michael Vlamis, Nick E. Tarabay, Shiloh Fernandez, Sean Avery, Jovan Adepo, Ian Casselberry, Anthony Molinari, James Remar, and many more will also appear in undisclosed roles.
Being included in The Odyssey is surely the envy of any actor working in Hollywood right now. For the likes of Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, and more, appearing in the movie makes 2026 a monumental year, as they’ll go on to star in the likes of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Dune: Part Three, and Avengers: Doomsday. While Matt Damon collaborated with Nolan on Interstellar and Oppenheimer, The Odyssey marks his first leading role with the filmmaker, and he takes this role in stride.
Christopher Nolan Is the Perfect Filmmaker to Bring The Odyssey to Life
Christopher Nolan is uniquely suited to adapt Homer’s epic and is perhaps more capable of bringing the story to life than any other filmmaker out there. It is hard to imagine a movie bigger than this one, and Nolan has become known for tackling some of the biggest and most world-changing stories in history. His mastery of the filmmaking craft, attention to detail, care for his cast and crew, and commitment to practical IMAX scale suggest The Odyssey is in safe hands.
Nolan’s feature film directorial debut was 1998’s Following, which provided just a glimpse of what the filmmaker would be capable of, even on just a budget of $6000. From then, 2000’s Memento, 2002’s Insomnia, 2006’s The Prestige, and 2010’s Inception all received critical acclaim and have come to be considered some of the most influential movies in history. The same could be said for Nolan’s take on Batman with The Dark Knight trilogy, but his more recent projects have made him even more prominent.
2014’s sci-fi epic Interstellar is considered one of Nolan’s masterpieces, and was quickly followed by the critically-acclaimed historical drama, 2017’s Dunkirk. 2020’s Tenet saw Nolan condense a complex, time-twisting narrative into a thought-provoking movie starring John David Washington, but it was 2023’s Oppenheimer that is currently the pinnacle of Nolan’s career. Starring Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer, and detailing his creation of the atom bomb, the movie earned Nolan his first Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture.
Right off this remarkable win and blazing hot streak, Nolan set to work on The Odyssey. Featuring an esteemed cast in one of the most iconic, well-known, and all-time classic stories in history, The Odyssey promises to be one of the biggest movies ever, and certainly one of Christopher Nolan’s most demanding, evocative, and successful projects. The Odyssey is destined to be one of the biggest hits of the summer, if not of the 21st century as a whole.
- Release Date
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July 17, 2026
- Runtime
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172 Minutes