Matt Damon has been stranded, chased, rescued, and reborn on screen more times than most movie stars could dream of. He’s stolen from casinos, escaped Mars, and survived World War II — but in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, he’s facing his biggest challenge yet: gods, monsters, and his own mythic destiny.
Empire has debuted a world-exclusive first look at Damon in The Odyssey, with the actor revealing the project is “exactly what you want of a summer movie.” Speaking to the magazine, Damon described Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic as a blend of scale, sincerity, and cinematic muscle. “It should be the most massively entertaining film,” he said. “It should feel mythic.”
Following Oppenheimer, Nolan’s latest takes him from quantum physics to ancient Greece, retelling the saga of Odysseus and his ten-year journey home from the Trojan War. Damon stars as the battle-worn king, navigating sirens, Cyclopes, and a storm-tossed sea that — in true Nolan fashion — was filmed as practically as possible.
“I can say, without hyperbole, that it was the best experience of my career,” Damon said of the shoot. The film’s scale is staggering: vast ocean sequences, sprawling set pieces across multiple continents, and thousands of extras. The actor recalled one particularly jaw-dropping sight: “I saw the [Trojan] horse on the beach and I was just like, ‘Fuck.’ It was just so cool.”
Despite the precision for which Nolan is known, Damon noted that spontaneity still ruled the set. “We were shooting that horse stuff next week, so I go, ‘How are you going to do it?’ And [Nolan] goes, ‘I don’t know. We’ll just get in there and figure it out.’ If it says you’re running for your life from a Cyclops, you’re going to run for your life. Chris doesn’t hide the ball.”
Who Stars in ‘The Odyssey’?
The film’s ensemble could fill Olympus itself: Tom Holland plays Telemachus, Odysseus’ son; Charlize Theron takes on the role of the goddess Circe; while Zendaya’s role remains a mystery. The cast also includes Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Benny Safdie, and Elliot Page — a mix of Nolan veterans and first-time collaborators.
Holland, who called the film “the job of a lifetime,” told Collider that working with Damon and Hathaway was surreal:
“Matt Damon has always been a hero of mine, Anne Hathaway has always been a hero of mine. So to share scenes with them, to learn from them, to become friends with them — I couldn’t have asked for a better job. And I’m so proud of the work I’ve done.”
The Odyssey sails into theaters — and IMAX — on July 17, 2026.
via Collider