Christopher Nolan has confirmed his upcoming movie The Odyssey is shorter than his previous film, Oppenheimer, but insisted “it’s an epic film, as the subject matter demands.”
2023 biopic Oppenheimer came in at a whopping three hours (three hours is the longest Nolan and his team have been able to squeeze onto an IMAX film projector). The Odyssey will have a shorter runtime, Nolan told The Associated Press, but we still don’t know exactly how long it is.
The Odyssey is described as “a mythic action epic,” and was shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. It features Matt Damon’s Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, who goes on a journey to return home after years of war.
The trailers released so far show off Tom Holland as Telemachus, Odysseus’s son who is determined to find his father, a concerned Anne Hathaway as Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, and Menelaus, the Greek king of Sparta and Agamemnon’s brother, played by Punisher actor Jon Bernthal. Scenes include Odysseus infiltrating the city of Troy using the legendary Trojan Horse, the Cyclops, who enters a cave filled with soldiers, and the undead rising from the ground itself.
The Odyssey’s runtime has been a talking point because of the sheer amount of story beats in the source material. Most believe Nolan will have to leave out significant chunks of Homer’s saga, although his movies often shoot along at a fast pace.
“It’s an epic film, as the subject matter demands,” Nolan insisted. “But it is shorter.”
Nolan spoke openly about the pressure he is under to deliver, and acknowledged fans want “a strong and sincere interpretation.”
“There’s a massive amount of pressure,” Nolan said. “Anyone taking on The Odyssey is taking on the hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere and that comes with a huge responsibility.”
Nolan added that had come away from his The Dark Knight Trilogy with an understanding of what people want from a film such as The Odyssey.
“What I learned from that experience is that what people want from a movie about a beloved story, a beloved set of characters, is they want a strong and sincere interpretation,” Nolan explained. “They want to know that a filmmaker has gone to the mat for it. I really tried to make the best film possible.”
In December last year, following the release of the debut trailer for The Odyssey, age-old debates about “historical accuracy” reemerged. Nolan’s film has faced questions about its historical accuracy — or inaccuracy, as some have put it — ever since it was revealed with a single image of Damon as Odysseus.
Damon himself has discussed how tough it was filming The Odyssey, which he said had a “profound” effect on him. “If I look objectively at what was required to do that job, I think it came at just the right time in my life,” he revealed. “I think I would’ve been miserable 20 years ago trying to do that job. Because you were uncomfortable every day, but I really enjoyed… like, deeply enjoyed every minute of it.”
Damon has spoken about having to slim down to his high school weight for the role. “I had a beard like yours for like a year,” he told Jason and Travis Kelce on a recent episode of their podcast, New Heights. “I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong.”
The Odyssey hits theaters on July 17, 2026.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
