After Oppenheimer swept awards and box office records, Christopher Nolan isn’t playing it safe. His next film dives straight into myth. Universal Pictures confirmed in December 2024 that Nolan would adapt
Homer’s The Odyssey, one of the oldest surviving works of Western literature. Written sometime between 750 and 650 BC, the epic follows Odysseus, king of Ithaca and his decade-long struggle to return home after the Trojan War.
The studio later locked a July 17, 2026, release date. What followed was a slow drip of casting news that quickly turned into a full-blown roll call of A-list names.
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Gods, Kings And Warriors Take Shape
Matt Damon leads the film as Odysseus. Universal revealed his casting with a striking image of the actor in battle gear, posting: “Matt Damon is Odysseus. A film by Christopher Nolan, #TheOdysseyMovie is in theatres July 17, 2026.”
Matt Damon is Odysseus. A film by Christopher Nolan, #TheOdysseyMovie is in theaters July 17, 2026. pic.twitter.com/7a5YbfqVfG
— The Odyssey Movie (@odysseymovie) February 17, 2025
Damon’s return to Nolan’s orbit comes after Interstellar and Oppenheimer. As he joked on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, he had promised his family a break from acting, unless Nolan called.
He did.
Tom Holland plays Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, marking his first collaboration with Nolan. The actor admitted he accepted the role with “no idea” what the film was about after a loose pitch. In the teaser, Holland’s character searches for answers about his missing father, reports People.
Anne Hathaway steps in as Penelope, Odysseus’ wife, reuniting with Nolan for the third time. “I have so many feelings about it that I don’t even know how to articulate,” she told Women’s Wear Daily.
Zendaya appears as Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, sharing the screen again with her real-life fiancé Holland. “It’s like second nature,” she told Vanity Fair.
A Cast That Keeps Expanding
According to People, Jon Bernthal joins as Menelaus, king of Sparta, telling Jimmy Kimmel Live that Nolan is “one of a kind.” Charlize Theron plays the enchantress Circe, admitting she felt “super intimidating” joining a cast already deep into production.
Robert Pattinson returns to Nolan’s world as Antinous, narrating parts of the teaser. Benny Safdie reunites with the director as Agamemnon, while Himesh Patel takes on Eurylochus after working with Nolan on Tenet.
Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page, Mia Goth and John Leguizamo round out key roles, with Leguizamo describing Nolan as “an indie filmmaker but with crazy money.”
The final surprise came with Travis Scott, who appears in a teaser delivering a grim prophecy: “A war, a man, a trick – a trick to break the walls of Troy.”
The film appears to be a myth thousands of years old, with a cast built for a modern audience. Nolan’s most ambitious journey yet now has many familiar faces.
