Christopher Nolan Reveals ‘The Odyssey’ Used ‘Over 2 Million Feet of Film’ Across 91 Days

Christopher Nolan is once again raising the bar for the cinematic experience. In a new interview with Empire magazine, the director revealed that his upcoming film adaptation of Homer’s Greek epic, The Odyssey, used “over two million feet of film,” and much of it was shot in the open seas in order to capture the unpredictability of Mother Nature.

“It’s pretty primal!” Nolan told the publication. “I’ve been out on it for the last four months. We got the cast who play the crew of Odysseus’ ship out there on the real waves, in the real places. And yeah, it’s vast and terrifying and wonderful and benevolent, as the conditions shift. We really wanted to capture how hard those journeys would have been for people. And the leap of faith that was being made in an unmapped, uncharted world.”
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The film has a reported budget of $250 million, making it the most costly movie of Nolan’s career, and is set to feature Matt Damon as Odysseus, while Tom Holland will play his son, Telemachus. The star-packed cast also includes Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, and Mia Goth. The project follows Nolan’s 2023 Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, which took home trophies for Best Picture and Best Director, as well as Best Actor (Cillian Murphy) and Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.) 

“By embracing the physicality of the real world in the making of the film, you do inform the telling of the story in interesting ways,” Nolan added when discussing the scale of The Odyssey. “Because you’re confronted on a daily basis by the world pushing back at you.” The director’s 13th feature film is set to debut in theatres on July 17, 2026.