If Christopher Nolan’s post- “Oppenheimer” mission statement is “bigger,” then “The Odyssey” appears to be the logical endgame: a foundational myth, a globe-hopping spectacle, and a flexible formal gambit shot entirely with IMAX film cameras. Universal’s new trailer doesn’t lean on plot so much as scale and inevitability, positioning the film as a primal, old-world saga rendered with new-world tech.
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Written and directed by Nolan, “The Odyssey” opens in theaters on July 17, 2026, with Matt Damon leading the film as Odysseus — the king of Ithaca trapped in a decade-long detour after the Trojan War, while the people he left behind tried to survive the vacuum his disappearance created.
On that “left behind” front, the film pairs Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus, with Telemachus’ search for answers seemingly acting as an emotional spine alongside Odysseus’ mythic ordeal. Robert Pattinson plays Antinous, one of Penelope’s suitors; Zendaya plays Athena; Charlize Theron plays Circe; Jon Bernthal plays Menelaus; and supporting roles include John Leguizamo (Eumaeus), Himesh Patel (Eurylochus), and Mia Goth (Melantho). Additional actors making appearances include Lupita Nyong’o, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Jesse Garcia, Shiloh Fernandez, Corey Hawkins, Jovan Adepo, Logan Marshall-Green, James Remar and many more.
In a recent issue of Empire, Nolan framed the source as bedrock storytelling, emphasizing the scale and physicality of the production, and stressing that the journey is meant to feel arduous, elemental, and lived-in.
“There’s a bit of everything in it. I mean, it truly contains all stories… We shot over two million feet of film… It’s pretty primal!” Nolan exclaimed. “We got the cast who play the crew of Odysseus’ ship out there on the real waves, in the real places… We really wanted to capture how hard those journeys would have been for people. And the leap of faith that was being made in an unmapped, uncharted world.”
Damon, meanwhile, puts the ambition in blunt, blockbuster terms, describing what the movie aims to deliver as a big, myth-sized crowd-pleaser. “It should be exactly what you want of a summer movie…,” he said. “It should be the most massively entertaining film. It should feel mythic.”
Universal has dated the release as a full-on summer event. “The Odyssey” opens in theaters on July 17, 2026. Watch the first trailer below.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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