Christopher Nolan has never been one for small gestures, and The Odyssey looks like it might be his most ambitious swing yet.
The first trailer dropped today, and it's exactly what you'd expect from the director who made audiences sit through three hours about the atomic bomb: visually stunning, narratively complex, and shot entirely on IMAX film because apparently regular film just won't do for ancient Greek poetry.
The footage showcases Nolan's signature blend of practical effects and overwhelming scale. Ships crash through stormy seas. Armies clash on Mediterranean beaches. And yes, there appears to be a Cyclops, because if you're adapting Homer, you might as well go full mythological spectacle.
The trailer features Tom Holland as Odysseus, which is inspired casting—the actor who played Spider-Man now gets to play another hero who just wants to go home but keeps getting sidetracked by supernatural nonsense. Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, and Charlize Theron round out the cast, though their specific roles remain under wraps.
What's most interesting is Nolan's approach to the source material. Instead of making it a straightforward action epic, the trailer suggests he's treating The Odyssey as a meditation on memory, trauma, and the stories we tell ourselves to survive. Which is very Nolan—the man cannot resist turning entertainment into a philosophical exercise.
The film hits theaters July 17, 2026, exclusively in IMAX (at least initially, because Nolan has strong feelings about theatrical exhibition). Early tracking suggests it could open north of $100 million domestically, which would be appropriate for a director whose last film won Best Picture.
