It seems Christopher Nolan has a job in diplomacy if this whole film thing doesn’t work out.
After all, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called the Oscar-winning filmmaker to congratulate him on The Odyssey‘s financial and cultural success.
Why Greek Prime Minister Called Christopher Nolan About The Odyssey
Mitsotakis thanked Nolan for “the film’s contribution to boosting global interest in ancient Greek culture, adding that such productions bridge Greece’s rich cultural heritage with contemporary creativity,” read a July 28 statement from the head of state’s office (translated to English via Google). “Kyriakos Mitsotakis also highlighted the immense box-office success of The Odyssey and expressed his appreciation for the fact that a significant portion of the filming took place in Greece.”
Where Was Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Filmed?
Production took place across six countries, including Greece, Morocco, Italy, Iceland, Scotland and the United States.
“Odysseus travels to places which, for the original audience of the poem, were completely unknown and outside of their experience,” Nolan, who is a stickler for using practical locations and visuals, remarked in the official production notes. “These places would have sounded fascinatingly exotic and strange. We wanted to capture that in the film, so we didn’t limit ourselves to a very tight Mediterranean perspective of where a historical Odysseus, had he existed, might actually have gone.”
“We knew our story started and ended in the Mediterranean, but to bring to life the places in between we needed much different landscapes and environmental conditions,” he added. “Harsh seas. Wind. Rain. Snow. You want all of it for the fantastical scope that Homer’s first readers would have had.”
To date, The Odyssey has grossed nearly $700 million worldwide—a herculean feat for an R-rated movie clocking in at just under three hours.
But if the similar performance of Oppenheimer (which nearly broke $1 billion, despite a mature rating and hefty runtime) is anything to go by, we wouldn’t be surprised if The Odyssey nabs Nolan his second Oscar for Best Director as well as Best Picture. That’s not even mentioning the award-worthy performances by Matt Damon (Odysseus), John Leguizamo (Eumaeus) Samantha Morton (Circe) and other members of the all-star cast.
With a near-perfect score of 94 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie is tied for Nolan’s highest-rated project alongside Memento and The Dark Knight.
The Odyssey is now in theaters. Click here for tickets.
(SYFY and Rotten Tomatoes are both part of the Versant Media family)
