Renowned filmmaker Christopher Nolan has taken on the monumental task of adapting Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, utilizing over 2 million feet of film in the process. Matt Damon as Odysseus and Tom Holland as his son Telemachus in the film. It’s in post-production now and scheduled for release in July of 2026.
Production on the film wrapped with an August shoot date, a calendar Nolan spent the last four months in a sea of his own creation. He aimed to provide an authentic portrayal of Odysseus’s journey by capturing the challenges faced by sailors in ancient times. Once we cast the actors who would play the crew of Odysseus’s ship, we sent them out to feel the waves and see these locations in real life. We wanted to really get at the difficulties those trips presented for individuals,” Nolan said.
The production welcomed an astounding 100 hours of raw footage. This impressive accomplishment is particularly notable when looking across the aisle at other recent large releases. For context, Mad Max: Fury Road shot approximately 480 hours of footage, while Gone Girl accumulated around 500 hours. This shows a determined clarity on Nolan’s part, who seeks to combine epic cinematic scope with a tightness of story and pace.
“As a filmmaker, you’re looking for gaps in cinematic culture, things that haven’t been done before,” Nolan said. “And what I saw is that all of this great mythological cinematic work that I had grown up with – [Ray Harryhausen] movies and other things – I’d never seen that done with the sort of weight and credibility that an A-budget and a big Hollywood, Imax production could do.”
The remarkable, efficient, and effective use of film is intimidating. Specifically, IMAX cameras burn through 337 feet of 65mm film per minute, while conventional 35mm film burns through a mere 90 feet per minute. This decision speaks to Nolan’s larger desire to deliver the most immersive and awe-inducing experience while remaining true to the comic book roots.
Matt Damon pumped up the project’s prospects, describing it as “the best experience of my career.” He recalled his awe when encountering production elements, saying, “I saw the [Trojan] horse on the beach and I was just like, ‘Fuck’. It was just so cool.”
For Nolan, learning to think through the visual and physical attributes of actual places obviously goes a long way in building story. He mentioned that the tactile element of the physical world and the process of creating the film to be present in that story animates it. It brings complexity and intrigue in how the story is told.