Everything We Know (And Don't Know) So Far About Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'!

Christopher Nolan has been creating lots of buzz and conversation ever since he announced his latest venture in his cinematic world -- a live-action adaptation of Homer’s Ancient Greek epic The Odyssey. The tale follows Odysseus, a major figure in Greek mythology, as he spends a decade trying to get home to his wife after the Trojan War. He is also featured in Homer’s The Iliad.

The movie has been slated to be released in summer of 2026, perfect timing for a movie that’s sure to be one of, if not the best of the year. Ever since noise was made that Nolan would be spearheading this movie in December of last year, casting announcements have seemed to be released every other day. Matt Damon is now confirmed to be the lead of the saga as Odysseus, the fabled King of Ithaca. The announcement of his casting was accompanied by a photo of the actor reportedly in costume for the role, which was immediately met with controversy as historians pointed out that the costume is not accurate to the time period in which The Odyssey takes place and in fact looks more Roman than Greek. To be fair, though, filming doesn't start until this Spring and this might not be his actual costume for the film; we will just have to wait and see!

Other characters for the movie have yet to be announced, but we are slowly learning who else is in the cast. Hollywood It Couple Tom Holland and Zendaya have been announced as names attached to the motion picture. Despite his age, there were initial rumors that the lead role would go to Holland, but after the announcement of Damon’s participation, those rumors were quickly squashed. Anne Hathaway is also a major name announced for the movie. Some other names we know so far include Mia Goth, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page. and Charlize Theron. It's quite an all-star line-up, and fans are buzzing trying to decipher which actors could be playing which characters from the epic poem! Nolan has also tapped his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer and Interstellar cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema to join the crew, so we can be sure the film will look spectacular as well. And given Nolan's preference for practical effects, we are hoping for an authentic cinematic experience!

While we may not know much about the movie or who’s playing who in the cast, we can be sure that this will be one for the ages. After Nolan’s smash success with Oppenheimer in 2023, Universal Studios opted to work with him again for The Odyssey. Considering Nolan’s track record when it comes to his filmography, The Odyssey is sure to be an amazing film and will bring out the best of each actor’s skills. Stay tuned!