Marvel Cinematic Universe icon and The Odyssey star Tom Holland has high praise for Christopher Nolan’s next epic. He even raved about the screenplay.
Speaking to Barron’s, Holland opened up about his experience working with Nolan on The Odyssey. “The script is the best script I’ve ever read,” he said. “Chris is a real collaborator. He knows what he wants. But it is not an environment where you can’t pitch ideas or build characters in certain ways.” The Odyssey is a feature film retelling of Homer’s classic poem of the same name.
The film will follow Matt Damon’s Odysseus as he journeys home to Ithaca following the events of the Trojan War. Apart from the natural perils faced by Odysseus and his crew on their voyage, The Odyssey will see Nolan bring classical characters and creatures from Greek myth to life on the silver screen, including captivating Sirens, the towering Cyclops known as Polyphemus, and the dreaded witch Circe.
The cast of The Odyssey consists of numerous Hollywood superstars, including Holland as Odysseus’ son Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Odysseus’ wife Penelope, Charlize Theron as the Goddess of Sorcery Circe, Benny Safdie as the Myenaian king Agamemnon, and Lupita Nyong’o as Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra. The Odyssey will also feature appearances by Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.
Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, HImesh Patel, and over a dozen other fan-favorite actors are also expected to make an appearance. Shot entirely on 70mm IMAX cameras, The Odyssey is sure to be a cinematic spectacle unlike any other, one which will give each of its leading stars a chance to take center stage, even if only until their chapter of The Odyssey has come to an end.
Studio Execs Response To Nolan’s The Odyssey
In early April, Universal Pictures’ distribution chief Jim Orr gave Nolan’s efforts a glowing review, stating that The Odyssey is a “visionary, once-in-a-generation cinematic masterpiece that Homer himself would quite likely be proud of.” While Orr’s statements were met with no small amount of skepticism at the time, his words have continued to draw plenty of interest.
He described The Odyssey as “propulsive [and] modern,” and even made reference to the film’s “out of this world twist.” Considering The Odyssey has been widely considered an invaluable literary classic for centuries, those statements came as something of a shock to fans familiar with the source material.
The Odyssey is set to crash into theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.
