10 Interesting Facts About Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
Two Million Feet of Film, Seasickness at Sea, and a Low-Budget Copy from The Asylum
Following the Oscar-winning success of Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan embarked on what may be the biggest project of his career. His adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey was filmed across several continents with an enormous budget, real ships, and a new generation of IMAX cameras. Tickets went on sale a full year before the premiere, and before Nolan’s film had even reached cinemas, it had already inspired a low-budget imitation from The Asylum. Here are ten things you may not know about The Odyssey.
1. The First Narrative Feature Shot Entirely on IMAX Film
The Odyssey is the first narrative feature film shot from beginning to end using 65mm IMAX film cameras. Nolan previously used IMAX for The Dark Knight, Dunkirk, Tenet, and Oppenheimer, but at least part of each of those films was captured using other camera systems. This time, the entire film was designed to take advantage of the towering 1.43:1 aspect ratio in compatible theatres.
That does not mean the film will be projected from IMAX 70mm prints everywhere. Only a few dozen cinemas around the world are equipped for that format, and most viewers will see it in digital IMAX, Dolby Cinema, or a conventional digital presentation. The large negative nevertheless records an extraordinary amount of visual information, so its quality should remain visible when the footage is transferred to other formats.
In theatres with a true 1.43:1 IMAX screen, the image will also fill far more of the audience’s field of vision. Rather than simply appearing wider, it will be considerably taller than a standard widescreen presentation.
2. A New Generation of Cameras Had to Be Developed
One of the main reasons no narrative feature had previously been filmed entirely in IMAX was not the size of the cameras, but the noise they produced. The film moves through the camera mechanism so quickly that the equipment can sound like an extremely loud sewing machine. That is manageable during explosions or outdoor action scenes, but during a quiet conversation, the camera could easily overwhelm the actors’ voices.
IMAX therefore developed a new camera known as the Keighley, along with a soundproof housing commonly referred to as a “blimp.” Once placed inside the housing, however, the complete system weighed around 300 pounds, or approximately 136 kilograms. The film magazine also had to be changed every two and a half to three minutes, meaning that long dialogue scenes required extremely precise planning.
The enormous camera created another unexpected problem. During some close-ups, it physically stood between the actors and blocked their view of one another. The filmmakers therefore constructed a system of mirrors around it, allowing the performers to maintain at least indirect eye contact during conversations. It was a surprisingly simple solution to a technological problem created by Nolan’s refusal to switch to a smaller camera for dialogue scenes.
3. More Than Two Million Feet of Film Were Exposed
Principal photography lasted 91 days, was spread across six months, and took place in six countries. The production filmed in Morocco, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Scotland, and at the Falls Lake water tank on the Universal Studios lot in the United States. Despite the extraordinary logistical demands, filming reportedly finished nine days ahead of the original schedule.
Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema exposed more than two million feet of IMAX film during production. Unlike a digital memory card, a strip of film cannot simply be erased and reused. Every take required additional negative stock, which then had to be physically transported, developed, processed, and inspected.
According to Tom Holland, the scale of the production sometimes made the set feel more like a historical reconstruction than a film shoot. When he arrived at one of the Moroccan locations, he walked past soldiers, ships, and large-scale sets for a considerable distance without seeing the usual technical infrastructure of a production.
Matt Damon similarly said that almost every individual location would have been the most difficult part of another film. On The Odyssey, one exceptionally demanding location simply followed another.
4. The Actors Really Went to Sea and Learned How to Row
Nolan did not want to recreate Odysseus’s journey primarily inside a studio against blue screens. The production therefore used the Draken, a modern reconstruction of a roughly thousand-year-old Viking ship. The filmmakers modified it to resemble a vessel from the Mycenaean period, while the actors had to learn how to row before filming began. Members of the Draken’s real crew subsequently appeared in the film as Odysseus’s sailors.
One day off the Scottish coast, the conditions became so rough that several actors suffered from seasickness. Nolan asked the cinematographer whether their real vomiting could be captured on camera. The actors agreed, and the director later said that the deeply unpleasant day produced some of his favourite footage.
According to Damon, the stars did not receive any special treatment. When bad weather hit the ship, everyone was equally wet and freezing, including Nolan himself.
5. The Most Expensive Film of Nolan’s Career
The reported budget is approximately $250 million, making The Odyssey one of the most expensive productions of Nolan’s career. The money was not required only for the star-studded cast and visual effects. A significant portion of the cost came from moving a large crew, ships, film cameras, and technical equipment between six countries, as well as constructing large sets and purchasing enormous quantities of IMAX film stock.
Universal’s willingness to invest so much money is particularly notable because the film is neither a sequel to an established franchise nor part of a comic-book universe. Its source is one of the most famous works in Western literature, but Homer’s name alone does not guarantee the interest of a modern mass audience. To a considerable extent, the project’s primary commercial brand is Nolan himself.
His position was strengthened significantly by Oppenheimer, which proved that he could transform a three-hour historical drama into a worldwide theatrical event. Universal subsequently allowed him to make an expensive mythological epic on analogue film, in difficult locations, and without the commercial safety of an established series. In contemporary studio Hollywood, that is an unusually risky combination.
6. Ancient Greece Without the Traditional “British” Grandeur
Hollywood historical films often use British accents and formal dialogue regardless of whether their stories take place in Rome, Greece, or an entirely different part of the ancient world. Nolan deliberately moved away from that convention. The characters in The Odyssey primarily speak with American accents and use more conversational language.
The director’s approach was based on the belief that Homer’s text contains not only great battles, gods, and monsters, but also crude humour, violence, family conflicts, and recognisably human weaknesses. He did not want the characters to sound as though they were constantly performing classical theatre. The decision provoked debate after the first footage was released, particularly among viewers expecting a more solemn version of antiquity.
Composer Ludwig Göransson took a similarly hybrid approach to the score. Alongside a traditional orchestra, he reportedly incorporated bronze gongs, the ancient Greek wind instrument known as the aulos, and the lyre. One of the principal four-note themes was designed to end with a sound resembling the plucking of a bowstring.
7. The Monsters Were Not Created Only Inside a Computer
Nolan is known for his preference for practical effects, although that does not mean he refuses to use computer-generated imagery. Avoiding it entirely would have been impossible in The Odyssey. The story includes the one-eyed Cyclops, the six-headed Scylla, gods, and other beings that could not simply be placed in front of a camera.
The filmmakers therefore combined animatronics, puppetry, physical sets, live performances, and digital effects. The appearance of the Cyclops was reportedly influenced in part by Francisco Goya’s painting Saturn Devouring His Son. Beneath the effects is also a genuine physical performance by Bill Irwin, who previously helped bring the robots TARS and CASE to life in Interstellar.
The production found the Cyclops’s cave in the Greek foothills, used Iceland’s black beaches to represent the underworld, and constructed Troy in Morocco. The film’s fantastic elements therefore frequently emerge from real locations rather than from environments created entirely inside a computer.
8. Tickets Went on Sale Exactly One Year Before the Premiere
Selected tickets for IMAX 70mm screenings went on sale on July 17, 2025. The film was not scheduled to arrive in theatres until July 17, 2026, meaning the first viewers reserved specific seats an entire year in advance. The initial sale was limited to a small number of cinemas capable of projecting genuine IMAX 70mm film prints.
Even such a distant date did not discourage fans. According to the Associated Press, the first screenings sold out in less than an hour. When a broader presale later opened, some booking systems struggled with the demand, while resellers began offering tickets for hundreds of dollars.
Premium screenings at venues including AMC Lincoln Square in New York and Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles became almost completely unavailable for weeks. The format of the presentation had become nearly as important to some viewers as the film itself.
Another record followed in June 2026. London’s BFI IMAX sold approximately 28,000 tickets during the first 24 hours of the broader presale, generating around £750,000.
9. Even the Trailers Were Treated as Theatrical Events
The first short teaser was shown exclusively in cinemas during the summer of 2025 ahead of Jurassic World Rebirth. Universal did not immediately release it officially online, meaning audiences initially had to visit a theatre to see the first footage from the film.
In December, the studio followed it with a nearly six-minute prologue featuring the Trojan Horse. It was initially available before selected IMAX 70mm screenings of Sinners and One Battle After Another, before later appearing ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash.
The strategy reflected Nolan’s longstanding effort to make even film marketing part of the theatrical experience. Instead of releasing every piece of footage simultaneously across social media, the campaign rewarded viewers who sought out specific cinemas and premium formats.
It also helped create an aura of exclusivity around the film. Pirated recordings inevitably appeared online, but the official presentation emphasised that the footage had been designed for a screen far larger than a phone or laptop.
10. The Asylum Made Its Own Odyssey Before Nolan’s Film Arrived
The Asylum specialises in so-called mockbusters: inexpensive films whose titles, posters, or premises resemble major upcoming Hollywood releases. Its previous productions have included Transmorphers, Atlantic Rim, Planet Dune, Top Gunner, and Ballerina Assassin. A $250 million adaptation by Nolan was therefore unlikely to arrive without a low-budget alternative.
The Asylum’s version was directed by Marcel Walz from a screenplay by Joshua Pruett. It runs for 86 minutes and stars Dominic Keating, Myrom Kingery, Llana Barron, and Morgan Flanagan. The film was released digitally on July 3, 2026, exactly two weeks before Nolan’s theatrical premiere.
This is not even the studio’s first attempt to accompany Odysseus on his journey home. In 2017, The Asylum released Troy: The Odyssey, which also combined the end of the Trojan War with Odysseus’s return to Ithaca. Nine years later, the company returned not only to the same source material, but essentially to the same title.
The contrast between the two new films may be the perfect conclusion to the story. On one side are six countries, real ships, more than two million feet of IMAX film, and a budget of around a quarter of a billion dollars. On the other is an 86-minute low-budget production designed to take advantage of the attention surrounding the same ancient source.
The wait to see the results of Nolan’s years of work is almost over. The Odyssey arrives in theatres on July 17, when audiences will finally discover whether the new cameras, punishing ocean shoot, and extraordinary scale of the production have created another cinematic event worth seeking out on the largest possible screen.