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Christopher Nolan’s next film project will be an adaptation of the ancient Greek epic poem The Odyssey.
One of the most significant works of early literature, it is attributed to the poet Homer and is believed to have been written in the eighth century BC. It is a mythical tale following the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he journeys home after the Trojan War.
It was previously confirmed that the film will feature an all-star cast, including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway and Charlize Theron.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Studios said: “Christopher Nolan’s next film The Odyssey is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology.
“The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.”
It is not the first time The Odyssey has been adapted for the screen. Kirk Douglas played Ulysses (the Latin name for Odysseus) in Mario Camerini’s 1954 film Ulysses. The 1905 short silent film The Mysterious Island by Georges Méliès is based on scenes from The Odyssey.
The epic poem has also provided the inspiration for several films that transposed the heroic tale to different times and settings, including Cold Mountain, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.
Earlier this year, Nolan’s longtime producer and wife Emma Thomas teased the forthcoming feature in an interview with Empire.
“I would say it’s very exciting,” she said. “This is the moment where the possibilities are sort of limitless, we haven’t started thinking practicalities, or anything.
“Oppenheimer was so absurdly successful and we feel like we have an opportunity.”
Nolan’s 2023 film Oppenheimer was based on the life of nuclear bomb inventor J Robert Oppenheimer and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director.
The film was also the director’s third highest-grossing to date (behind The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises), thanks in part to a social media phenomenon incongruously pairing the film with the colourful doll comedy Barbie.
In a four-star review of Oppenheimer, The Independent film critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote:“Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan’s best and most revealing work. It’s a profoundly unnerving story told with a traditionalist’s eye towards craftsmanship and muscular, cinematic imagination. Here, Nolan treats one of the most contested legacies of the 20th century – that of J Robert Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy), the “father of the atomic bomb” – as a mathematical puzzle to be solved.”
