Next summer, Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan (“Oppenheimer”) will finally get to play in the sandbox of Greek myths with his feature film adaptation of Homer‘s “The Odyssey,” which explores Matt Damon‘s King Odysseus’ epic journey from the Trojan War back home to his wife and son on Ithaca after encountering all sorts of creatures and dangers along the way.
The two new stills hailing from Empire Magazine have made their way online featuring Anne Hathaway (her third film with Nolan after “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Interstellar“) as Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, Mia Goth (“Frankenstein”) as one of her maids Melantho (potentially having questions in loyality), and Tom Holland (“Spider-Man: Brand New Day”) being confirmed for playing the role of Odysseus’ son, Telemachus. If you’re not familiar with the iconic story written by Homer, Damon’s King Odysseus has been away from Ithaca long enough (many, many years) for his wife to entertain the idea of suitors courting to become her next husband and usurp the kingdom, potentially a ticking clock element of the movie as the island’s King struggles to return home.
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Interestingly enough, the cover of the Empire issue (See below) features Odysseus with the legendary wooden horse (filled to the brim with Greek soldiers reading an attack) from the Trojan War, hinting that Nolan may attempt to explore some events from Homer’s companion public domain tale “The Iliad” which were previously adapted into the R-rated film “Troy” (“Game of Thrones” actor Sean Bean played King Odysseus in that one with the hopes of returning for a sequel) that Nolan nearly directed before the late Wolfgang Petersen was tasked by Warner Bros. to direct and instead he made “Batman Begins” for the studio.
Others on the film’s call sheet include Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Bernthal, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Elliot Page, Mia Goth, Himesh Patel, Benny Safdie, Ryan Hurst, Corey Hawkins, Samantha Morton, John Leguizamo, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron being enlisted to portray the myth’s iconic sorceress Circe, who can turn humans into animals.
Circe won’t be the only threat the King and his loyal crew/fellow soldiers (don’t expect many of them to leave those other islands unscathed or alive) come to clashes with, as there are the sirens (lures sailors to their death with a hypnotic song), the giant cyclops Polyphemus (the son of angaonist Greek god Poseidon, who is partly the reason for their extended perilous journey to Ithaca), Scylla, and Charybdis. It remains to be seen how much will be taken from the tale, as Nolan has been hellbent to do as much as possible practically and is expected to limit the use of VFX.
You can see those new images below as we’re patiently waiting for an online version of a trailer, teaser, or otherwise, for “The Odyssey,” which has been set for release on Universal Pictures on July 17, 2026.
