Christopher Nolan's upcoming film 'The Odyssey' marks a milestone as the first narrative feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras, thanks to innovative noise-reduction technology. The director collaborated with cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema to test the setup using footage of a child reciting David Bowie lyrics. The epic adaptation of Homer's poem stars Matt Damon as Odysseus and is set for release on July 17, 2026.
Production Breakthrough
Christopher Nolan has achieved a long-held goal with 'The Odyssey,' filming the entire movie using IMAX cameras. Previously limited to action sequences due to camera noise interfering with dialogue, Nolan's team developed a new 'blimp' casing to quiet the equipment. This allows close-up shots just a foot from actors' faces while capturing usable sound, enabling intimate performance scenes in the large-format medium.
The breakthrough was tested with footage shot by cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, a frequent Nolan collaborator on films like 'Interstellar,' 'Dunkirk,' 'Tenet,' and 'Oppenheimer.' Van Hoytema filmed a child reciting lyrics from David Bowie's 'Sound and Vision' to demonstrate the technology's potential. 'I presented Chris with a very big close-up of a child on the IMAX screen, reciting David Bowie’s ‘Sound And Vision’ from a piece of paper,' van Hoytema told Empire magazine. 'It was very touching: that level of intimacy in both image and sound, fused together, projected in the theatre.'
Nolan described the results as 'electrifying' and called the blimp 'a game-changer.' He noted, 'You can be shooting a foot from [an actor’s] face while they’re whispering and get usable sound. What that opens up are intimate moments of performance on the world’s most beautiful format.'
Cast and Filming Details
Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, reuniting with Nolan from 'Interstellar' and 'Oppenheimer,' with Tom Holland as his son Telemachus. The ensemble includes Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Zendaya as Athena, Charlize Theron as Circe, Lupita Nyong’o and Benny Safdie as Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, plus Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, and others. Production spanned 91 days, using over 2 million feet of 65mm film—costing around $3 million—at real-world locations, including seas to capture the epic's challenges.
Nolan has progressively incorporated more IMAX since 'The Dark Knight' in 2008, with 'Oppenheimer' introducing black-and-white IMAX stock. 'As a filmmaker, you’re looking for gaps in cinematic culture,' Nolan said of adapting Homer's epic. The $250 million Universal production avoids heavy digital effects for an authentic feel and releases in theaters on July 17, 2026.