NEED TO KNOW
The first footage of The Odyssey has come ashore.
On Monday, Dec. 22, Universal Pictures released a teaser trailer for director Christopher Nolan’s action epic, adapted from Homer’s ancient Greek poem of the same name.
A synopsis for The Odyssey describes it as “a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology.” The new trailer shows Matt Damon as the title character Odysseus and brief glimpses at his life during the Trojan War (including the iconic Trojan Horse) and his years-long journey back to his homeland.
Universal Studios IMAX
The trailer is the first look audiences outside of movie theaters have gotten at The Odyssey, Nolan’s first movie since his 2023 drama Oppenheimer won several Oscars, since Universal first announced the movie was in development in December 2024. The film is notably being shot with all-new IMAX cameras and will be the first feature length film ever to shoot entirely with IMAX film cameras.
Prior to the trailer’s release, Universal did release a short teaser for the movie that debuted exclusively in theaters and showed Tom Holland in character as Telemachus, Odysseus’ son, for the first time.
That teaser featured narration from John Leguizamo and Robert Pattinson’s characters that quickly recaps the end of the mythological Trojan War, which precludes the events of Homer’s The Odyssey. (The Odyssey depicts Odysseus’ 10-years-long journey to his home in Ithaca, Greece, from the Trojan War after winning the conflict.)
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Universal Pictures
“I have to find out what happened to my father. When did you last see him?” Telemachus asks in that trailer, to which Jon Bernthal’s character implies many rumors of Odysseus’ adventures have surfaced since the war ended.
“Some say he’s rich. Some say he’s poor. Some say he perished. Some say he’s imprisoned,” Bernthal continues in the short scene. “What say you?” “Imprisoned?” asks Telemachus, to which Bernthal’s character responds, “What kinda prison can hold a man like that?”
The final scene of that teaser showed Damon’s Odysseus adrift on the crashing ocean waves.
Nolan’s adaptation features a star-studded cast that includes Damon, Leguizamo, Holland and Bernthal plus Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page, Mia Goth, Charlize Theron and Benny Safdie, among others. Damon, Holland and Zendaya were each seen filming the movie on location in Favignana, Italy, back in March, where Damon was first seen showing off his impressive physique to portray the ancient Greek hero; the trio were photographed filming again in Scotland as recently as July 14.
The Odyssey is in theaters July 17.
