Christopher Nolan, long known for redefining genre boundaries and turning high-concept filmmaking into blockbuster gold, is charting unfamiliar waters with his next project: The Odyssey. After finally winning the Best Director Oscar for 2023’s Oppenheimer, the director is steering his most mythic undertaking yet.
In a cinematic retelling of Homer’s epic, Nolan reunites with several of his past collaborators, assembling a cast that reads like a who’s who of modern Hollywood. Matt Damon takes on the role of Odysseus, Anne Hathaway portrays Penelope, and Tom Holland plays their son, Telemachus. Robert Pattinson enters the picture as Antinous, the chief among the suitors vying for Penelope’s hand and throne.
New images revealed by Entertainment Weekly showcase Pattinson’s Antinous, cold and entitled, cutting a striking contrast to Damon’s Odysseus, who appears aged and worn… just a man who’s trying to go home, even after all the years away from what he’s known. Hathaway’s Penelope exudes restrained strength, embodying a woman forced into regency while fending off opportunistic men. Holland’s Telemachus, meanwhile, stands as a young man shaped by absence, trying to understand a father he never truly knew.
The project marks Nolan’s first foray into the historical epic genre, though it remains grounded in the cerebral, emotionally fraught terrain he’s navigated in everything from Interstellar to The Prestige. The director’s frequent collaborators return to familiar territory: Damon, most recently seen in Oppenheimer, Hathaway from The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar, and Pattinson, who brought an air of suave calculation to 2020’s Tenet.
Beyond the central cast, The Odyssey boasts an ensemble that includes Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page, Benny Safdie, Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, and many more. Each is expected to bring a distinct presence to the narrative, which Universal Pictures describes as “a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. For a director who’s built his career questioning time, identity, and consequence, The Odyssey might be his most emotionally charged film yet.
The Odyssey opens in cinemas on 17 July 2026.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, and anime — you name it. When she’s not reading or being a dedicated cinephile, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of Caleb from Love and Deepspace.
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