All the things We Know About The Christopher Nolan Film

Award-winning director Christopher Nolan isn’t any stranger to large tasks, however his adaptation of “The Odyssey” will in all probability be his largest enterprise but. The director behind “The Darkish Knight,” “Inception,” and “Oppenheimer,” (simply to call a couple of of his blockbuster movies) is taking over Homer’s epic poem, and filming is already underway for the undertaking — which is about to launch in 2026 (as of this writing).

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So what do we have to learn about “The Odyssey” earlier than it hits theaters and, in all chance, blows critics and audiences away? If you did not have to learn “The Odyssey” for any of your highschool English lessons, I will additionally go over the fundamental plot factors of “The Odyssey,” remind you that it’s, in reality, a sequel — to a different of Homer’s poems — and speak about some simple and wildly divergent diversifications of this well-known story. Here is every part that you must learn about Christopher Nolan’s tackle “The Odyssey.”

The truth that an arduous journey is now colloquially known as an “odyssey” ought to let you know that Homer’s story has remained related for literal centuries, however what particularly occurs in “The Odyssey” because it was initially written? The story facilities on Odysseus, a soldier and the king of Ithaca who left to combat within the Trojan Battle and hasn’t been capable of return dwelling to see his spouse Penelope for a full decade. Whereas Penelope and her 20-year-old son by Odysseus, Telemachus, stay in Ithaca — and a ton of suitors vy for her hand, believing that Odysseus was misplaced at sea after he royally pissed off the god of the ocean, Poseidon. Odysseus struggles to get dwelling, however would not know Telemachus is cavorting round with gods and pulling some strings to make that potential.

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To say that Odysseus’ journey dwelling is not straightforward is an understatement. Not solely is he held captive by Calypso on an island for seven extra years — as a result of she’s head over heels in love with him — however he and his males are tricked by lotus-eaters (who make them overlook their mission), ensnared by sirens, trapped in a cave by a boulder-wielding, one-eyed large named Polyphemus, get tricked once more by Circe — who turns his males into swine — and fought a whirlpool (Charybdis) and a six-headed monster (Scylla). When Odysseus lastly will get again to Ithaca, he approaches Penelope disguised as a beggar … however when she challenges her suitors to fireside her husband’s bow and arrow, solely Odysseus can truly do it, and the couple lastly reunites. Additionally, Telemachus murders a complete bunch of these suitors alongside his dad, so I suppose that is additionally heartwarming in its personal method.

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The forged of Christopher Nolan’s model of “The Odyssey” is, to place it frivolously, freakin’ stacked. We do not know who anybody is enjoying as of this writing, with one exception: Matt Damon will tackle the lead position of Odysseus. So, who will seem alongside Damon?

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Actual-life couple Tom Holland and Zendaya will each seem within the movie — and primarily based on some set pictures, it is a affordable wager that Holland will play Telemachus. As for the remainder of the forged, buckle up. Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Himesh Patel, Benny Safdie, and Elliot Web page are 5 of the high-profile forged members who’ve labored with Nolan earlier than (Hathaway appeared as Catwoman in “The Darkish Knight Rises,” Pattinson and Patel had been in “Tenet,” Safdie performed a significant supporting position in “Oppenheimer,” and Elliot Web page memorably appeared as Ariadne, a personality who takes their identify from Greek mythology, in “Inception”). 

All of those high-quality people shall be joined by Oscar winners Lupita Nyong’o and Charlize Theron, breakout horror star Mia Goth, “The Bear” and “Punisher” lead Jon Bernthal, prolific actor and author John Leguizamo, newly minted “Shogun” star Cosmo Jarvis, “Straight Outta Compton” star Corey Hawkins, and venerable Hollywood stars Invoice Irwin and Samantha Morton. (That is, astonishingly, not even a whole checklist.) This forged is already monumental even with out particular character particulars, and it is not out of the query that Nolan might add a couple of extra names to his roster.

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Ever since this model of “The Odyssey” was formally introduced in December of 2024, the actual pleasure in regards to the undertaking has centered round Christopher Nolan. In reality, all we knew about Nolan’s undertaking at first is that he began growing it at Common Photos after working with the studio for “Oppenheimer” — after a very public break up from Warner Bros. over their huge launch of “Tenet” through the COVID-19 pandemic — and Tom Holland and Matt Damon had been revealed as two of the undertaking’s stars earlier than anybody even knew it was, in reality, “The Odyssey.” So why is it so essential that Nolan is the one to sort out this model of considered one of historical past’s most well-known tales?

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Nolan is aware of tips on how to create spectacle on a large scale, and he is been honing this specific talent as a director for many years. His early tasks, like 1998’s “Following,” 2000’s “Memento,” and even 2006’s “The Status” had been a lot smaller tales in comparison with his later efforts. When he took on the Caped Crusader, he helped create a gritty new standard-bearer for all “Batman” motion pictures that adopted (you can’t even attempt to deny that Matt Reeves’ 2022 reboot “The Batman,” which stars Nolan’s man Robert Pattinson, wasn’t closely influenced by Nolan’s imaginative and prescient in his trilogy). With tasks like “Inception” in 2010 and “Interstellar” in 2014, Nolan significantly widened his scope … however for my cash, the way in which he directed approached 2023’s “Oppenheimer” finest illustrates why he is the proper director for “The Odyssey.”

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“Oppenheimer” is, on some degree, a narrative of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s (Cillian Murphy) private {and professional} journey, however the film’s most hanging sequence, with out query, is the primary take a look at of the atomic bomb. The cautious and extremely considerate method that Nolan shot this scene — proper all the way down to the loudest cinematic silence in historical past when the bomb truly detonates — makes it fairly clear that, after years within the enterprise, Nolan can deal with a narrative with really monumental scope and scale, so I’ve all the religion on this planet that his imaginative and prescient of “The Odyssey” shall be nothing wanting spectacular. It is best to really feel that method, too — we’re in good arms with Nolan primarily based on the sheer proven fact that his physique of labor has grown increasingly more formidable with each single undertaking.

As soon as once more, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” relies on Homer’s epic poem, the origins of which could be traced to 725–675 BCE (in accordance with the Encyclopedia Britannica). Because the encyclopedia notes, the poem was all the time meant to be carried out by an orator — which is smart when you think about that it has been tailored so many instances, however I will circle again to that time shortly — and it was initially made up of over 12,000 strains of textual content written in a method often known as “dactylic hexameter” that finally got here to be often known as “Homeric hexameter” because of the poet’s sturdy affect. What does that imply? In Homeric hexameter, “every line consisted of six ft, or metrical models, and every foot consisted of a dactyl (a pressured syllable adopted by two unstressed syllables).”

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“The Odyssey” was additionally initially so large that it spanned a whopping 24 books by our fashionable metrics; again in Homer’s time, the poem was written on scrolls that had been in all probability made out of animal skins. Some students additionally query how giant a task Homer himself performed within the creation of “The Odyssey,” and this perception is called the “Homeric query.” The textual content has been translated many, many instances throughout centuries, together with by literary luminaries like Alexander Pope and Samuel Butler; in 2017, Emily Wilson made historical past because the first-ever feminine translator to convey “The Odyssey” to an English-speaking viewers. You may suppose that each one translated variations of “The Odyssey” are an identical, however that is truly not the case in any respect, as every translator brings a kind of distinctive sensibility to their very own model.

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Sequels have been round for a actually very long time, and because it occurs, “The Odyssey” is a sequel to considered one of Homer’s different extraordinarily well-known epic poems: “The Iliad.” Chances are you’ll recall that “The Odyssey” begins proper after the tip of the Trojan Battle, and so that you seemingly will not be stunned to listen to that “The Iliad” focuses on the Trojan Battle itself (albeit, the ending because it pertains to the poem’s fundamental character Achilles).

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“The Iliad” focuses on the Achean forces — particularly, Achilles and Agamemnon, the strongest warrior of these forces and its chief, respectively — and the way, when these two guys kidnap two maidens named Chryseis and Briseis, they inadvertently piss off the gods. (Chryseis and Briseis’ father Chryses occurs to be a priest of the Greek god Apollo, so he asks his boss to wreak havoc on the boys.) Finally, Achilles turns heel (get it?!) and tries to work alongside Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, to defeat them; within the meantime, an uneasy ceasefire between the Acheans and their enemies, the Trojans, is damaged and the bloodshed really begins.

The way in which this all wraps up is Achilles begins working together with his unique dudes within the Acheans once more, kills Hector — his counterpart within the Trojan military — and achieves victory. He additionally does some horrifying stuff with Hector’s lifeless physique earlier than the gods yell at him, and as soon as he backs off, one other fragile peace accord takes place between the Acheans and Trojans. Once more, “The Odyssey” takes place in any case these things occurs. 

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With all of this in thoughts, it is in all probability not stunning that there are literally a lot of diversifications of “The Odyssey” on the market already. Probably the most well-known literary adaptation, “Ulysses,” was written by James Joyce in 1922, and a few others are comparatively simple, just like the 1997 miniseries of the identical title that stars Armand Assante as Odysseus. Within the 2002 episode “Tales from the Public Area,” even “The Simpsons” introduced a comparatively devoted retelling of the supply materials. Some diversifications of “The Odyssey” take a really totally different strategy, although. 

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In 2000, the Coen brothers launched their tackle “The Odyssey” titled “O Brother, The place Artwork Thou?” starring George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, which I will argue is definitely the primary of their odes to Homer’s work (stick with me right here) and even names Clooney’s character Ulysses, following his journey as he tries to reunite together with his spouse Penny (Holly Hunter) after escaping from jail. Technically, we might additionally take into account “Chilly Mountain,” which tells the story of a Accomplice deserter named W.P. Inman (Jude Legislation) who desires nothing greater than to return to his personal spouse Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman). In 2013, the Coen brothers’ movie “Inside Llewyn Davis” tells the story of the titular musician (Oscar Isaac) who has to beat obstacles to not search out his long-lost spouse, however carry out his music for an agent … and alongside the way in which, he finds himself transporting a cat named Ulysses. (I do not suppose that is a coincidence within the slightest!) “The Odyssey” stays a relentless inspiration for filmmakers as a result of in 2024, “The Return,” directed by Uberto Pasolini, forged Ralph Fiennes as Odysseus and Juliette Binoche as his beloved Penelope.

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Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” is anticipated on July 17, 2026.