Christopher Nolan to film Homer's Odyssey as the first feature film shot entirely in 70-mm IMAX

Anne Hathaway is cast as Odysseus's faithful wife Penelope, who in his absence defends the home realm against a horde of greedy suitors. Tom Holland plays their son Telemachus, who as a young man must take on responsibility. The further ensemble includes Robert Pattinson in the role of one of the suitors. Thus, a high-caliber cast takes on the material, carrying it across a runtime of two and a half hours.

Homer's Material: An Epic and Its Impact

Homer's "Odyssey," likely composed in the 8th century BC and following on from the "Iliad," is considered one of the oldest and most influential works of European literature. The 24 books in total, originally distributed across papyrus rolls, tell the entire ten-year journey of the hero in only 40 narrated days. The material has shaped popular culture over centuries: from the first commercial gaming console, an "Assassin's Creed" spinoff, Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey," to a Mars probe, numerous products and works carry the name of the narrative within them.

At the center of Nolan's interpretation is the question of what home actually means. "In the 'Odyssey,' it is fundamentally about what home really means," the director describes the core of the material. War, love, and death are the central themes, Nolan continues. Already in earlier works such as "The Dark Knight," "Interstellar," or "Oppenheimer," the director sees motifs of the ancient journey foreshadowed: "Everything I have done in the past has brought me to this place."

Polyphemus, Sirens, and the Hero's Cunning

In Greek mythology, Odysseus is the cunning king who decided the ten-year war against Troy with the Trojan Horse. After victory, he tries to return to his home island of Ithaca, but gods and forces of nature prolong his journey. On the way home he encounters, among others, the Cyclops Polyphemus, whom he tricks as "Nobody" before getting him drunk and blinding him. The seduction by the Sirens also plays a role, from which his crew escapes because they stop up their ears with wax.

During the ten years of his absence, numerous suitors crowd into the palace in Ithaca and press Penelope. The queen keeps them at bay with cleverness. Thus, at night she undoes the burial shroud she weaves by day for Odysseus's father Laertes, in order to stall for time. Penelope, the film emphasizes, is "more than the brave woman who waited 20 years for her husband."

Technical Novelty: 70-mm IMAX Throughout

Nolan's "The Odyssey" is a visual demonstration of new film technology. With a total runtime of two hours and 52 minutes, it is the first feature film to be shot continuously in the 1.43:1 aspect ratio with 70-mm IMAX cameras. Shot reel by reel, that is, film roll by film roll: the IMAX film rolls each last only two and a half minutes. "These IMAX film rolls only last two and a half minutes," Matt Damon recounts. "That's why, in every longer scene I shot with Anne Hathaway a.k.a. Penelope, we had to stop and wait until the camera was reloaded." That was technically challenging, but it was also fun: "Because nobody had ever done that before."

The shoot was also a physical challenge for the cast. Robert Pattinson, who plays one of the suitors, describes the daily routine on set: "On a normal Hollywood film, the base camp is 10 seconds from the set. On a Nolan film, it's more like a 45-minute walk—in sandals and full kit." The production at the expansive outdoor locations required endurance and historical costumes under the open sky.

The actual geographic home of Odysseus is still debated today. Some geologists are convinced that it is not the Ionian island known today as Ithaca, but the nearby peninsula of Paliki. A French documentary titled "Auf den Spuren von Odysseus" from the year 2025, currently available in the ZDF media library, takes up this thesis. Nolan himself has not yet commented on the question of the concrete location.

Where Was Ithaca? An Old Debate

Visually, according to initial reactions, the film relies on a sharp 70-mm look and an aesthetically stylish color palette that is "never too colorful, but also not boringly colorless." The mixture of ancient subject matter and modern visual power is meant to shape the cinema experience. The film thus joins a series of other major productions that had already used the 70-mm IMAX format in individual sequences, but as the first feature film takes the step to using it throughout.

With the theatrical release on Thursday, the international marketing of the film also begins. Universal Pictures expects a broad rollout in numerous markets, including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Even beforehand, media reports have classified the project as one of the most ambitious cinema events of the year. The combination of Homer's material, star-studded cast, and the technical novelty of 70-mm IMAX production makes the film a major event for cinema operators and audiences alike.