Inside Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: IMAX-Only Filming, $250M Budget, and the First Epic Footage

The First Feature Film Shot Entirely on IMAX Cameras

The Odyssey is not merely being released in IMAX. It is the first major Hollywood narrative feature to be shot entirely with IMAX film cameras . Nolan worked directly with IMAX engineers to develop brand-new, lighter, and quieter IMAX film technology specifically for the production . The decision makes the entire film a large-format experience, from intimate dialogue scenes to large-scale mythological set pieces.

Principal photography ran from February to August 2025 across an extraordinary range of real-world locations: Morocco, Greece (including Messinia in the Peloponnese), Italy, Scotland, Iceland, Western Sahara, and Malta, as well as a soundstage in Los Angeles .

The Cast: Damon Leads an Ensemble of Greek Gods and Mortals

Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, with Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus. Zendaya plays the goddess Athena, and Robert Pattinson appears in a role that has not been officially confirmed . Himesh Patel is Eurylochus, while Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, and John Leguizamo round out the cast .

On Set: The June 2026 Featurette

Universal dropped an “On the Set” featurette (running roughly 1 minute 18 to 1 minute 30 seconds) on June 2–3, 2026, that offers the clearest look yet at the film’s tone and practical ambition .

In the clip, Tom Holland states the film “shows Christopher Nolan at his best,” while Nolan specifically praises Zendaya’s performance as Athena—a moment that multiple outlets flagged as a highlight of the featurette . The featurette shows the ensemble in full costume on location and emphasizes the gritty, hands-on approach Nolan is known for, applying it to a story that includes gods, monsters, and vast ancient seascapes .

The Trojan Horse: CinemaCon’s Jaw-Dropping Reveal

At CinemaCon in Las Vegas in April 2026, Nolan unveiled an extended sequence centered on the Trojan Horse—a full-scale, practical build shot on IMAX cameras in a real location . He described the sequence as the intended “anchor” of the film’s opening, demonstrating the sheer physicality of the production . Jim Orr, Universal’s president of domestic theatrical distribution, labeled the footage “jaw-dropping” . The scene sets the expectation that the most fantastical elements of The Odyssey will be grounded in Nolan’s signature practical filmmaking.

From Oppenheimer to Olympus

Following Oppenheimer, Nolan wanted The Odyssey to be a “mythic action epic” with universal resonance . He said the IMAX format is uniquely suited to capturing the gods, monsters, and epic seascapes of Odysseus’s journey—and that Homer’s foundational saga has never been rendered with this level of cinematic immediacy . The result is Nolan’s first full-blown epic fantasy and his first film to draw directly from ancient mythology .