All-time director Christopher Nolan, known for Oppenheimer (2023), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and The Dark Knight (2008), is adapting Homer’s The Odyssey, the Greek epic poem detailing the encounters of Odysseus as he voyages home to Ithaca. Stars like Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, John Bernthal, and Matt Damon are amongst the growing list of cast members that have been announced thus far. The film is set to be shot at locations around the world and has been set for a 2026 release. We all knew Nolan’s commitment to the bit was no joke, as the director has proven time and time again that he prefers practical effects over CGI (computer-generated imaging), notably using a real explosion for the atomic bomb scene in his 2023 film Oppenheimer, but Nolan appears to be giving the word “practical” a whole new meaning. New set photos have been released via NolanAnalyst, giving fans a look into the true size and scale of the film’s production. The images, reportedly taken in the city of Aït Ben Haddou, lead us to believe that the Moroccan city will depict Troy. Although this information is unconfirmed, there are few plausible alternative explanations for a massive wooden horse materializing in Morocco. Despite the positive anticipation building around the film, the first look photo released by Universal attracted criticism from fans who disliked the inaccuracy of the costume. The first look photo revealed actor Matt Damon, who also starred in Nolan’s 2014 film Interstellar, as Odysseus. In the photo, Damon is seen to be in a Chalcidian-style helmet and ambiguous robes of a similarly Hellenistic period. Historically, this kind of uniform would have been worn only by soldiers fighting in battle. While Odysseus was technically in the Trojan War, as the poem includes several flashbacks to his times in battle, the poem begins with Odysseus and his men leaving Troy after the war.
Nolan is unafraid to exercise creative liberty in his adaptations, which could result in a film that leans more towards the epic while abandoning the poem. The Iliad, the epic also by Homer that predates the events in the Odyssey, features the Trojan War as a central part of it. While Nolan could just be choosing to make the Trojan War flashbacks a prominent part of the film, why not adapt the Iliad, an epic poem by Homer actually about the Trojan War, over the Odyssey?
While the first-look image has frustrated some viewers, it’s important to consider the other variables at play during the movie’s promotional period. The movie is being distributed by Universal Studios, one of the largest studios in the world. In 2021, Nolan split from Warner Bros. due to their treatment of his film Tenet. The film was delayed 3 times over the course of 2020 and was eventually lumped in with the rest of the films Warner Bros would release when they merged with HBO Max to create a single service called MAX, which would entail a day-to-date theatrical and streaming release. Nolan was disappointed by the studio’s seemingly overnight decision. He expressed his qualms with the studio putting many great films out of reach on streaming services audiences could not equitably access. This eventually led him to leave the studio for Universal, where he was able to produce Oppenheimer with much more flexibility, including a blackout period of 3 weeks and a 100-day theatrical release. Assuming that Nolan is working with Universal under similar circumstances, that would make the success of The Odyssey’s theatrical release crucial.
For the movie to break even at the box office, it would need to bring in more than 250 million dollars, the majority of that profit dependent on the success of the movie’s critical opening weekend. The opening weekend of Oppenheimer, Nolan’s most recent film that famously shared a release date with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, was part of the 4th largest opening weekend in Box office history. While the film’s success was partially due to the movie’s credibility and Nolan’s name, the 2023 Barbenheimer craze participated heavily in the film’s success. The film has 150% more budget than Oppenheimer, and, despite the prominence of Nolan’s name, the box office is not doing well enough for him to rely solely on dedicated fans to sweep in the money necessary to break even. This fact may caution fans from jumping to conclusions about Nolan’s adaptation too soon, as there might be a light at the end of the tunnel for those who value historical accuracy.
In a frustrated tweet, X user @witte_sergei states that “the Iliad literally describes Odysseus wearing a kino leather helmet adorned with boar tusks, but Hollywood can never resist the siren song of the generic ancient broom helmet. This helmet is like cocaine to costume designers.”
The Trojan silhouette, which bears similarities to the Greek Spartan, is represented in mainstream media notably in university mascots, such as USC, the University of Southern California, and MSU, or Michigan State University. Both universities are also part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, which attracts a cult following with millions of viewers per game.
The demographic that sees Matt Damon in a Trojan helmet and immediately critiques the historical accuracy is presumably narrower than the demographic that sees Matt Damon in a Trojan helmet and thinks it’s really cool. With 250 million dollars at stake, Universal and Nolan cannot afford to pander to a narrow demographic.
While it is very possible that the film will be given the Gladiator treatment, meaning that accuracy will be secondary to the story, Nolan deserves the benefit of the doubt. His past films have proven that the director is an expert at balancing suspense and emotion, and, as previously mentioned, he does not take his films lightly. While Nolan’s plots tend to bite off a bit more than what we anticipate he can chew, he has proved us wrong time and time again. Without a doubt, Nolan has the experience, dignity, and restraint to make an ambitious film with just the right amount of everything. If anything, a first-look photo like this stands to prove his dedication to accuracy and a dignified production. Releasing an easily recognizable symbol relating to Greek Mythology to attract a wide audience may simply be a tactic to get people in the door of the theater, and once they have achieved that, he can blow our minds with whatever he has in store. So, despite the disappointment felt by anyone who hoped to see Matt Damon in a historically accurate boar-tusked Greek kino leather helmer, there is still a glimmer of hope.