It is difficult to overestimate the enormous influence that Homer's epic has had on global culture. Nolan himself recalled seeing the Odyssey performed as a school play when he was only 5 or 6 years old. “I remember him and the Sirens being tied to the mast and stuff like that,” he recently told Empire. “I think it's in all of us, actually. And when you start breaking down the text and adapting it, you find that all these other films – and all the films I've worked on – they all come from the Odyssey. It is fundamental.”
In addition to Damon, the cast includes Anne Hathaway as Penelope; Tom Holland as Odysseus' son, Telemachus; Robert Pattinson as Antinous, one of Penelope's many suitors; Jon Bernthal as the Spartan King Menelaus; Benny Safdie as the Achaean commander during the Trojan War, Agamemnon; John Leguizamo as Odysseus' faithful servant, Eumaeus; Himesh Patel as his second-in-command, Eurylochus; Will Yun Lee and Jimmy Gonzales as crew members; and Mia Goth as Penelope's maid Melantho. We also have Zendaya as Athena, Charlize Theron as Circe, and Lupita Nyong'o in an undisclosed role.
The Odyssey will be released in theaters on July 17, 2026.
