Epic Beginnings: The Intense Prologue of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’Revealed

Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Imax Prologue Shows Matt Damon Emerging From the Trojan Horse and an Epic Battle Beginning

Hollywood once produced epic films like Cecil B. DeMille’s biblical The Ten Commandments, William Wyler’s historical drama Ben-Hur, David Lean’s British biographical drama Lawrence of Arabia, and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s romantic drama Cleopatra. As the decades went by, the days of grand storytelling, sweeping visuals, vast scope, profound themes, and significant character transformation focusing on heroic journeys with huge, spectacular practical sets and unforgettable musical scores have slowly faded.

Yes, there have been some films that have come very close to achieving the levels of a bygone era. Coppola’s crime drama The Godfather: Part II, Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, and Spielberg’s Schindler’s List are a few that come to mind but nothing on the level of Hollywood’s golden years.

One visionary director who is capable of bringing back that cinematic event that has evaded audiences is Director Christopher Nolan, whose upcoming film, The Odyssey, is set to be released on July 17th, 2026, in IMAX, showcasing Matt Damon’s Odysseus in what just might be the grand spectacle that we all have been missing.

The British-American filmmaker has built a reputation in the film industry as a showman and visual magician, firmly in command of his craft and widely regarded as a true master of the art of filmmaking. His innovative storytelling and unique visual styles have earned him critical acclaim and a massive global fanbase. Films like The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and most recently, his Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer, consistently push the boundaries of cinema.

Nolan’s prologue playing before re-releases of Sinners and One Battle After Another in select IMAX 70mm, is based on an ancient Greek epic poem attributed to Homer that chronicles the hero Odysseus, arduous ten-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

The clip depicts the story of the Trojan horse, mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, but only briefly, as a known event recalled by characters like Menelaus and Odysseus, while the full, detailed story of its construction and use is more famously elaborated in Virgil’sAeneid, not the Iliad, which ends before the war’s conclusion. Homer’s epics assume the audience already knows the broad myth, so the Odyssey only alludes to the horse as a trick that brought Troy down, with Odysseus being central to it. The Trojan horse story is an iconic part of the lore surrounding Damon’s character, but the primary plot is him trying to get home after the end of the Trojan War, encountering gods and monsters along the way.

Moviegoers are immediately drawn into the epic tale as the special sneak peak opens with, Jon Bernthal’s Menelaus, king of Sparta, asking Tom Holland’s Telemachus, son of Odysseus, “Did you hear the story of the horse?” Telemachus indicates that he has. Did you hear it from the inside?” Bernthal says. Suddenly you see an enormous wooden horse shown being dragged into the city of Troy by the Trojans, unaware of the Achaean soldiers tightly cramped inside in tense conditions, with key cast members including Odysseus and Menelaus bracing themselves as Trojan guards poke swords into the structure, narrowly missing the hidden soldiers.
Under the cover of night fall, the Achaean warriors, led by our hero Odysseus, emerge from the horse and launch a brutal, stealth attack on the sleeping Trojan army fighting their way in order to open the city gates, which will allow the rest of the Greek forces, waiting patiently in hiding, to breach Troy’s walls and finally end the war for good. Menelaus concludes his narration with the line, “Well, you know the rest,” bridging the gap between the end of the Trojan War (the subject of The Iliad) and the beginning of The Odyssey, which focuses on Odysseus’s perilous journey home.

The sheer scale of the film footage, in terms of scope and spectacle, is far beyond imagination. This clip extends far beyond visuals, intricate detail, intense sound design (Ludwig Göransson’s fantastic score), and practical effects. It’s a tale of heroic deeds, larger-than-life heroes, and grand themes like good vs. evil, heroes tested by impossible odds, and human endurance that look to be the heart and soul of the film.

Audiences and critics are already calling the preview “breathtaking” and “jaw-dropping,” with many others saying it looks like the “biggest movie ever made.” Nolan isn’t just adapting The Odyssey; he’s pushing cinematic boundaries to create an immersive, physically huge experience.

The impressive cast of The Odyssey also stars Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Mia Goth, Zendaya, Elliot Page, John Leguizamo, Samantha Morton, Ryan Hurst, Logan Marshall-Green, Lupita Nyong’o, Josh Stewart, Benny Safdie, Corey Hawkins, and Elyes Gabel.

Filming took place in Morocco (Aït Benhaddou for Troy), Greece (Peloponnese, Pylos, Methoni Castle, Nestor’s Cave), Italy (Favignana, Aeolian Islands in Sicily), Scotland (Moray Firth coast, Findlater Castle), and Iceland. Favignana, Sicily’s “Goat Island” is “believed to be the place where Homer envisioned Odysseus landed with his motley crew to barbecue goats and stock up on food. The idyllic isle is part of the Egadi archipelago off of Sicily’s north-west coast.

The Odyssey marks a step change even by Nolan’s standards. The film is the first feature shot entirely on IMAX 65/70mm film cameras, using newly engineered, lighter and quieter rigs developed with IMAX specifically for this project. That choice isn’t just a technical flex; it signals Nolan’s belief that the sheer scale and texture of this story deserve the largest, most immersive canvas available. For viewers, that should translate into an image that feels unusually physical and immediate.

The Odyssey is set for next summer, scheduled for July 17, 2026.