Christopher Nolan just bet $250 million on a 3+ hour Greek epic—starring Matt Damon as Odysseus—and Hollywood is already dusting off its laurel wreaths. The movie isn't even done filming (they're only halfway through after five months), but the internet is in full meltdown mode.
Even for Nolan—a guy who makes Batmans blink and wormholes stylish—this is deranged in the best way. Production has hopscotched from Morocco to L.A., haunted the ruins of Italy and Greece, and is about to invade Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, and the UK. Someone check Odysseus' frequent flyer miles. Legendary stunt coordinator James Newman just called it “an epic of all epics”—and added, in a slight dare to the studio's accountants, “they're never going to make a movie like this again.”
But here's the eye-popping detail: this isn't just “big.” Forget franchise bloat—Nolan is making Homer feel low-budget. He's aiming for myth with Hoyte Van Hoytema behind the IMAX artillery, plus a cast that reads like a fever dream: Damon, Theron, Hathaway, Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Holland, Bernthal, and Mia Goth. It's the Avengers: Endgame of Euripides adaptations. Or, more honestly, the Fyre Festival of ensemble casts.
Let's play the “spot the pattern” game: Hollywood loves a Greek saga (hello, Brad Pitt's abs in Troy), but rarely does the myth get the blank-check, auteur treatment. In 2016, Darren Aronofsky's “Noah” tried Bible blockbuster—with divisive, soaked results. Here, the stakes are even wilder: Nolan pushing runtime, budget, and cast lists to the breaking point, with the gods of box office and cinephiles circling for blood.
But what's the endgame? “The Odyssey” is infamous for its decade of disasters—shipwrecks, sirens, one-eyed curses, and watching old gods divorce via lightning bolt. Nolan's not just flirting with “epic”—he's speed-dating every superlative the Academy recognizes. And with rumors of a teaser trailer next month (possibly hijacking screens before “Jurassic World Rebirth,” because why not), anticipation is only getting louder.
As for cast chemistry and overstuffed storytelling—jury's out. But a crew member, off-record, let slip: “You don't do this for a paycheck. You do it because Nolan'll drag you through Greek hell and back.” Fair.
Would you watch Nolan's ‘The Odyssey' or spend your $20 on lottery tickets and sea monster NFTs instead?
