Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Getting a 6-Minute Prologue

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The new film, The Odyssey, promises an incredible adventure, and the way it’s being promoted reflects that. A longer trailer, described as a preview to the full movie, will be available on December 12th, but it can only be viewed in theaters.

Starting December 19th, a six-minute preview of The Odyssey will play before IMAX showings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. A shorter trailer for The Odyssey will also appear before standard showings of Avatar: Fire and Ash. If you want to see the full prologue, you’ll need to go to an IMAX theater.

Releasing the prologue only in IMAX theaters isn’t simply a promotional tactic, though it likely serves that purpose too. Nolan strongly prefers the IMAX 70mm format, and this feels like a natural extension of his vision for the film.

Christopher Nolan and IMAX have successfully used special trailer screenings in the past. When an extended trailer for Oppenheimer was shown in 70mm IMAX, fans flocked to see it, causing weeks of sold-out showings. It’s rare for a director to have such a dedicated fanbase these days, but Nolan and IMAX are capitalizing on that enthusiasm.

The Odyssey Begins Its Journey to Theaters

As a huge movie fan, I was so excited to get a first glimpse of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey earlier this year! They showed a preview before Superman and Jurassic World, and some stills popped up online too. It’s Nolan’s take on the classic Greek story, with Matt Damon as Odysseus, the king trying to find his way back home after the Trojan War. Tom Holland is playing his son, Telemachus, which is fantastic casting. And the rest of the cast is incredible – Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Charlize Theron, and even Zendaya are all on board! I can’t wait to see this one.

Filming extensively at sea was a very fundamental experience,” Nolan explained recently. “I spent the last four months on the water, and we had the actors playing Odysseus’s crew actually filming on real waves in authentic locations. It was a powerful experience – the ocean is immense, sometimes frightening, but also beautiful and forgiving, depending on the weather. We wanted to realistically portray the difficulties of those ancient voyages and the courage it took to venture into the unknown.”

Damon called the film the highlight of his career and expressed his enthusiasm for portraying the legendary character. He was particularly drawn to the character’s complexity, noting that the Emily Wilson translation – which opens with ‘Tell me about a complicated man’ – perfectly captures his essence. Damon emphasized that the character is far more than just a warrior; he’s a brilliant thinker and a cunning strategist.

Universal Pictures, the studio making The Odyssey, unexpectedly started selling tickets for IMAX 70mm screenings – Christopher Nolan’s preferred film format – a year before the movie even comes out. The Odyssey is scheduled to be released on July 17, 2026.

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2025-12-10 02:10