For months, there has been rampant speculation about Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to “Oppenheimer,” the three-hour epic that earned him the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. The cast has been coming together little by little: Matt Damon, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway and Charlize Theron. Could it be a vampire movie? For a while, there was a hilarious rumor that Nolan was planning a remake of John Badham’s police helicopter action movie “Blue Thunder,” because apparently that’s how you spend clout after winning two Oscars and making a play R-rated teacher that grossed $977 million. .
For those who were hoping Matt Damon and Tom Holland would rekindle the crackling chemistry generated by Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern in “Blue Thunder,” I have some very bad news. For everyone else, if you were expecting Nolan to push the envelope in terms of scope and technology, you’re getting the epic of epics. I just hope you like poetry.
Christopher Nolan’s next film is an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey
Homer’s “The Odyssey” has been adapted many times throughout film history. Kirk Douglas played epic hero Ulysses in director Mario Camerini’s star-studded 1954 film, while more recently George Clooney memorably sang as the leader of the Soggy Bottom Boys seeking freedom in “Oh brother, where are you?” by Joel and Ethan Coen. Did you go to school? Did you have a teacher who dedicated at least one day to Greek mythology? You already know “The Odyssey.” So here’s the deal. According to a tweet from Universal Pictures:
“Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, ‘The Odyssey,’ is a mythical action epic filmed around the world using new IMAX film technology. The film brings Homer’s seminal saga to IMAX movie screens for the first time and opens in theaters worldwide on July 17, 2026.”
For cinematic sensation seekers, this promises to be… well, who can say? If Nolan is using the new IMAX technology and the movie is a year and a half away, there’s no telling what he’s doing. What we can absolutely expect is that Nolan will devote every ounce of his cinematic means to the story of Odysseus undertaking an arduous journey back to Ithaca to be with his wife Penelope, beset by her suitors. What I’m hoping for is a traditional version of the story with mermaids, a maritime adventure and a huge cyclops. There’s always the chance that Nolan updates the material and sets it in the present day, which could be cool too! But from now on, I want a big Greek epic shot and presented on 70mm film. Regardless of how Nolan approaches it, this is officially he cinematic event of 2026 and a film that we will speculate about widely for a long time.
