The Odyssey: Nolan’s All-IMAX Epic Set For 2026

Christopher Nolan, the man behind box office hits like Oppenheimer and Inception, is currently working on the most expensive project of his career, raising expectations for another cinematic spectacle. Nolan is set to bring The Odyssey to the big screen next year, with a reported budget of 250 million dollars. With huge star power and a universally recognised story, Nolan's The Odyssey is scheduled for global release on July 17, 2026. Even a full year before the release of this highly anticipated movie, tickets for its IMAX 70mm showings were completely sold out earlier this month.

This really shows Christopher Nolan's amazing ability to draw people in. He, along with IMAX and Universal Pictures, managed to get audiences rushing to buy tickets for his movie a whole year early, even though it's still being filmed. It is the first commercial production to be filmed entirely with IMAX cameras. Universal Pictures, which is backing the mega project, describes it as “a mythic action epic filmed around the world” and highlights that it will be made “using brand new IMAX film technology." Nolan has been working toward filming a whole movie with IMAX cameras ever since he used them for some action scenes in “The Dark Knight” back in 2008. With every new film, Nolan has relied on IMAX cameras for even more sequences. In 2023, he made history with “Oppenheimer” by being the first to shoot using IMAX black-and-white 65mm film.

Nolan’s project will bring to life the story of Homer’s ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey. This classic tale is made up of 24 books, and it follows the long, 10-year journey of Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, as he tries to find his way back home after the Trojan War. The movie stars Matt Damon as Odysseus and also features Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Anne Hathaway in various roles.

Nolan has now landed in a controversy for filming scenes of The Odyssey in the Western Sahara, 70% of which is occupied by Morocco. Notably, Western Sahara is a disputed territory and is classified as “non-self-governing” by the United Nations. According to the organisers of the Western Sahara international film festival, the presence of Nolan’s high-profile cast and crew in the region will help whitewash the Moroccan occupation and normalise the repression.