Christopher Nolan Was Hired To Direct Troy 20 Years Before the Odyssey

by

The Academy Award-winning director has consistently demonstrated his talent across various film genres, and his upcoming historical epic promises to be his most ambitious project yet, releasing next summer. Interestingly, he was once considered to direct the film Troy.

Christopher Nolan recently told Empire Magazine that he was once considered to direct the movie Troy, which would have been his first historical epic before his upcoming film The Odyssey. He didn’t get the job, but that ultimately led to him directing the Batman films instead.

Even before the movie Troy came out in 2004, Christopher Nolan had already established himself as a talented director with films like Memento (2000) and Insomnia (2002). But it was his Dark Knight trilogy that really allowed him to explore his full creative vision.

Nolan shared that he was initially offered the chance to direct the film Troy. However, Wolfgang Petersen, who had previously been developing the project, resumed directing after his superhero movie fell through. The studio brought Petersen back when they decided not to move forward with his other film.

This collaboration proved beneficial for both directors, ultimately leading to one of the most acclaimed Batman films. However, the director’s upcoming project, The Odyssey, will allow them to fully utilize skills they’d been developing for a long time. They explained, “I was very drawn to that world and had been thinking about it for years – especially certain visuals, like how to depict the Trojan Horse.” The director also described the opportunity to work on The Odyssey as a welcome opportunity after a previous situation.

The 2004 film Troy was directed by Wolfgang Petersen and written by David Benioff. It boasted a famous cast including Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Saffron Burrows, and Orlando Bloom.

Honestly, critics were pretty divided on this movie – it didn’t exactly wow them. Right now, it’s sitting at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t great, but audiences seem to like it much more, giving it a 74% rating. The interesting thing is, despite the mixed critical reception, it was a huge commercial success! It ended up being the eighth highest-grossing film of the year, bringing in $483.1 million worldwide on a $150 million budget – a really solid return, according to The Numbers.

The Odyssey Offers Christopher Nolan the Opportunity to Push Boundaries

I was already blown away by Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, and now I’m hearing he didn’t even rest! He’s jumping right into a new project, and it’s seriously groundbreaking – it’s the first movie ever filmed completely with IMAX cameras. Plus, I’m so excited because he’s revisiting a classic story – he didn’t get to make Troy but he’s now tackling another epic from Homer. It feels like he’s finally getting the chance to tell the story he always wanted to!

The director explained they filmed over two million feet of footage during the 91-day shoot. He also shared his vision, saying he wanted to create something new in the world of mythological cinema. He felt that while there were many classic films in that genre, none had fully utilized the scale and realism possible with a large Hollywood budget and IMAX technology.

Just as anticipated, the cast of The Odyssey is as impressive as that of Troy. The film stars Matt Damon, a frequent collaborator with director Christopher Nolan, alongside Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, and Lupita Nyong’o.

The Odyssey marches into theaters on July 17, 2026.

Read More

2025-11-22 17:06