Christopher Nolan is known for his love of the IMAX format and has used it in such films as «Interstellar», «Dunkirk», «Shadowlands», the «Dark Knight trilogy and «Oppenheimer» — and the latter brought in a record $190 million in IMAX box office, which eventually made the director think, why not push the envelope?
Nolan’s idea was to shoot a new movie (in this case, «Odyssey») with 100% IMAX film cameras, which he did not hesitate to present to IMAX Corporation CEO Rich Gelfond.
«A year before Chris started shooting Odyssey, he called me and said he wanted to shoot the entire movie with IMAX cameras. It was impossible to do that for a lot of reasons,» Gelfond told the Cannes Film Festival, citing, among other things, the bulkiness and noise of the cameras, along with the limited flexibility. «But we solved all the problems. So this will be the first movie to be shot 100% with IMAX cameras».
The company has created a new generation of IMAX film cameras that are 30% quieter and much lighter, with updated film scanning and processing systems that also eliminate the problem of long waiting times to view the footage.
«Chris has forced us to rethink the way we ran the business,» Gelfond admitted. «So we now have a program to train projectionists, we offer more parts worldwide, we’re working harder on developing parts and we’re looking at ancillary things like film recorders and film scanners. It’s been a challenge. And I’m glad he gave it to us».
«The Odyssey» — is Nolan’s second film in collaboration with Universal, after the director left Warner Bros. It is based on the epic poem of the same name by Homer, which tells the story of the journey of King Odysseus of Ithaca home after the Trojan War, showing his encounters with Polyphemus, the sirens, Circe and concluding with the reunion with his wife Penelope.
Matt Damon took on the lead role, while Tom Holland played his son and Zendaya — Athena. Actually, we have already seen with them first shots from behind the scenesAlthough they were met with criticism of historical accuracy. The rest of the star-studded cast includes yet-to-be-confirmed roles: Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, Lupita Nyong’o, and others. According to rumors, the film will also feature star «Shogun» Cosmo Jarvis (yes, the same one who recently got the lead role in a biopic about Stalin).
The film will premiere on July 17, 2026 — this is a symbolic period for Nolan, as «Dunkirk», «The Dark Knight», «Oppenheimer», and «Inception» were released on similar dates.
Let us remind you that «Odyssey» is to become the most expensive movie in Nolan’s career — with a budget of $250 million. Homer’s epic poem has been adapted for the screen many times before: in 1954, the movie «Ulysses» starring Kirk Douglas was released; «Odyssey» also inspired the Coen brothers’ film «Oh, Where Art Thou, Brother?» (2000); similarly, the story of the Trojan War appeared on the screens in the movie «Troy» (2004), where Brad Pitt played Achilles and Sean Bean — Odysseus (by the way, Nolan was among the candidates for the director’s chair).
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