Christopher Nolan brought new footage of “The Odyssey” to CinemaCon on Wednesday, showing his take on the most famous scene from Homer’s epic tale: the Trojan Horse. Nolan opened the Universal Pictures and Focus Features panel, the first of two studio presentations on CinemaCon’s third night.
In the new footage, we see Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, hide with dozens of his soldiers inside the famous horse as the people of Troy drag the giant wooden horse inside the city walls and must remain silent as they are stabbed by swords from Trojans trying to see if anyone is inside. And then, when night falls, Odysseus and his men silently strike, slaughtering the Trojan guards as they open the gates to Troy, allowing their comrades to sack the city.
“‘The Odyssey’ is a story that has fascinated generation after generation for 3,000 years. It is not a story, it is THE story,” Nolan told exhibitors. “This is a story about family. this is a story about a father’s desperate journey to return home, not just to reclaim his kingdom, to save his wife, the Queen, who’s been managing this king for 20 years, his absence, who’s fighting to save her son from increasingly hostile world.”
“The Odyssey” is a history-making film as the first one ever to be shot entirely with Imax cameras rather than switching between various types of cameras and aspect ratios. New advancements in Imax technology have allowed Nolan and his team to bring lighter cameras onto the stormy ships that Matt Damon and his cast find themselves on as Odysseus goes on his epic journey. “Capturing the entire story in Imax has been a lifelong dream of mind, and my crew did a phenomenal job of figuring out how to do this for the first time,” he said.
“The Odyssey” marks Christopher Nolan’s first feature since “Oppenheimer,” the 2023 R-rated biopic that grossed nearly $1 billion and brought the filmmaker his first Best Picture win at the Academy Awards. The film won seven of the 13 categories it was nominated in, taking home Oscars for Best Director (Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.), Best Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema), Best Editing (Jennifer Lame) and Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson).
So all eyes are on “The Odyssey,” Nolan’s follow-up after his coronation. The film boasts a massive, star-studded cast, featuring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Himesh Patel, Will Yun Lee and Mia Goth, among others.
“The Odyssey” pulled an unprecedented marketing stunt in July 2025, opening up tickets for a handful of IMAX screenings a full year in advance. The tickets sold out the same day.
“The Odyssey” releases in theaters on July 17.
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