Back in 2023, the American epic Oppenheimer (2023) hit cinemas in a rare event that got people talking all summer. After the middling response to Christopher Nolan’s previous film, Tenet, in 2020, Oppenheimer took almost a billion from a US$100 million budget, and firmly re-sat the director on his cinema throne.
Tenet ‘only’ took US$366 million on its US$205 million budget in comparison, largely because half the audience found it clever, while the other half left the cinema confused. That minor misstep arguably worked out well for Nolan.
With some of the shine off the director’s proverbial apple, and his next film, Oppenheimer, providing a more straightforward story, there was a suggestion that the overall hype surrounding Nolan films diminished somewhat. The box office results suggest otherwise, however.
The Odyssey
Nolan has courted hype ever since the dark and gritty superhero films that put him on the world stage in 2005. It reached fever pitch before the conclusion of said trilogy, seven years later. Interstellar (2024) and Dunkirk (2017) complete the journey to the present, with arguably less natural drama than the three superhero films, but no less than the director is used to.
Now, we come to the present – or, more specifically, the near future. The Odyssey, Nolan’s next movie, which adapts the ancient poem of the same name, is due for release in July 2026. It already looks like a classic Nolan piece. Its ensemble cast features Tom Holland, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron, and its huge budget stands at $250m.
The story covers a tale in the mould of classics like Jason and the Argonauts (1963), where reality clashes with fantasy. It’s a trope in focus. The ‘heyday’ of low fantasy in Hollywood might have already happened a few years back, with Troy (2004) and Clash of the Titans (2010), but video games like God of War continue to have the protagonist face ancient monsters.
Mythological themes have found a significant foothold on casino sites, too, in recent years. This includes slots dedicated to Poseidon, the Egyptian god Horus, and Zeus. Themed card games like Cards of Athena are also available under specific categories like the blackjack online section. The pervasiveness of these timeless stories and figures in media is clear to see, and this persistent broader cultural intrigue in ancient legends and proverbs seems to have perfectly paved the way for huge epics like Nolan’s film.
IMAX Tickets
The trouble with The Odyssey is that it’s still a year off, as mentioned, and it’s already drawing the kind of hype that can quickly become unhelpful. For one, it’s already sold out in places. The Guardian reported back in July that the “longest pre-sale in cinematic history” had already shifted its first IMAX tickets, for 26 cinemas that support the largest visual format – 1570.
This is where the silliness takes a firm hold. Nolan’s next film hasn’t finished production yet, so participating theatres can’t screen anything else on the day The Odyssey arrives. It’s too much of a risk while they don’t know how long it’s going to be.
The BBC fanned the flames by insisting that Nolan is “the only person” who could work on The Odyssey, tipped as next year’s “biggest film”. Adapting classics is a job filled with peril. Perhaps the BBC knows something the rest of us don’t.
The Odyssey might as well be out next week for all the noise it’s making. It could be a long year for fans already overexcited at the movie’s prospect.