With just over a month to go before audiences finally experience The Odyssey on the big screen, Universal Pictures has released a new behind-the-scenes featurette that offers a glimpse at the staggering scale of Christopher Nolan‘s latest cinematic adventure.
If the footage and comments from the cast and crew are any indication, this isn’t just another epic. It’s one of the most ambitious productions ever mounted.
The featurette highlights the incredible practical scope of the film, with sprawling sets, massive armies, full-scale ships, and locations stretching across multiple countries.
The people involved repeatedly stress just how enormous the production was, and coming from a filmmaker who has already delivered movies like Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer, that says a lot.
Matt Damon sums it up, saying: “This is definitely the biggest movie I’ve ever done in my career in terms of its scale. Definitely the biggest movie I’ve ever done in terms of its ambition.”
That seems to be the consensus across the board. Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s legendary ancient Greek poem follows Odysseus, played by Damon, as he struggles to find his way home after the Trojan War.
Along the way, he faces mythological threats including the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the powerful witch-goddess Circe before ultimately returning to Ithaca and reuniting with his wife Penelope.
The film’s production numbers are almost hard to wrap your head around. The Odyssey reportedly shot for 91 days during 2025 across six countries including Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland, and the Falls Lake water tank on Universal’s backlot in the United States.
Nolan also captured more than two million feet of IMAX film, making it one of the most technically ambitious projects ever attempted.
The movie is also making history as the first feature shot entirely on IMAX film cameras, which should make its theatrical presentation something truly special. For movie fans who love seeing films in the biggest format possible, this looks like a must-see IMAX event.
Even Tom Holland, who has spent years working on giant Marvel productions as Spider-Man, found himself stunned by what he encountered when he arrived on location in Morocco. Speaking with GQ, reports:
“In total, The Odyssey shot for 91 days in 2025, in six countries: Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland, and at the Falls Lake water tank on the Universal lot, in the United States. Nolan shot over 2 million feet of IMAX film. There is nothing else that currently exists in filmmaking like a Nolan production.
“Even Tom Holland, who has been playing Spider-Man through a decade’s worth of giant Marvel productions, was confused and disoriented when he first arrived on The Odyssey’s set in Morocco.
“’I remember walking down this beach for half an hour, and I’m just seeing Greek soldier, Greek soldier, Greek boat, Greek soldier, the Trojan wars, Greek boat, Greek soldier for… I don’t know if I’m exaggerating, but it felt like miles,’ Holland told me. ‘And I’m saying to the PA: ‘Where is the crew? I haven’t seen any evidence of a film set. This is more reminiscent of a reenactment than it is a film set.'”
The cast assembled for the film is equally impressive. Alongside Damon, the movie stars Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Charlize Theron as Circe, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Jesse Garcia, Will Yun Lee, Rafi Gavron, Shiloh Fernandez, Mia Goth, Cosmo Jarvis, and Corey Hawkins.
Nolan directed the film from a screenplay he adapted from Homer’s classic epic. Longtime collaborator Hoyte van Hoytema handled cinematography, while Ludwig Göransson composed the score. The project was produced by Emma Thomas and Nolan through their Syncopy banner.
Everything we’ve seen so far suggests that The Odyssey is aiming to deliver a mythological adventure on a scale rarely seen in modern filmmaking. Nolan has built a career on creating cinematic experiences designed for the biggest screens possible, and this project looks like the culmination of that approach.
I already know where I’ll be on opening weekend. Sitting in an IMAX theater, ready to see if Nolan has pulled off what looks like one of the most ambitious movie productions ever made.
The Odyssey arrives in theaters worldwide on July 17, 2026.
