New images from Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey have been released by Empire magazine, offering a detailed look at what Nolan and Matt Damon are calling a massive theatrical experience.
The photos show Damon as Odysseus, armored and weathered, leading his men through the woods and on the beach beside Greek warships. One shot highlights the massive Trojan horse, dragged ashore by soldiers. Nolan is going full-scale.
Damon Says It’s What You Want from a Summer Movie
Speaking with Empire, Matt Damon calls The Odyssey “exactly what you want of a summer movie.” He describes the shoot as the best experience of his career and praises Nolan’s practical approach—filming across real oceans, using thousands of extras, and constructing full-scale props, including the Trojan horse.
“I saw the horse on the beach and I was just like, ‘F—,’” Damon said. “It was just so cool.”
Damon plays Odysseus in Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic, which follows the King of Ithaca on a perilous return from the Trojan War. Damon describes Nolan’s direction as “meticulous” but also flexible, sharing that scenes like the horse landing were approached with a “figure it out when we’re there” attitude. He adds that Nolan never hides what’s in the script: if it says Odysseus runs from a Cyclops, then Damon runs for his life.
Nolan Shot Over Two Million Feet of Film
Christopher Nolan confirms The Odyssey was filmed using over two million feet of IMAX film. The production lasted 91 days and included open-sea filming with real ships and actors at sea—no green screens, no studio tanks.
Nolan says the goal was to push mythological filmmaking further than anyone has before. “What I saw is that all of this great mythological cinematic work that I had grown up with—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.”
He calls Homer’s tale “foundational” and says the project has been in his mind since he passed on directing Troy.
New Images from Empire
- One image shows Damon as Odysseus, walking through a battlefield strewn with tents and wreckage.
- Another shows Odysseus leading his men through a forest, dressed in heavy armor.
- A silhouetted group drags a towering Trojan horse along the shore under a blazing sun.
- The Empire cover shows Damon emerging from the ocean beneath the towering wooden horse.
These images give the clearest look yet at Nolan’s grounded approach and scale.
Film Details
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Benny Safdie, Samantha Morton, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Jesse Garcia, Will Yun Lee, Mia Goth, Cosmic Jarvis, Ryan Hurst, and Corey Hawkins.
The screenplay is written by Nolan. Production is handled by Emma Thomas. Universal Pictures is releasing the film in IMAX and standard formats on July 17, 2026.
