When Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” arrives in theaters on July 17, it will do so carrying a distinction no major Hollywood blockbuster has held before: it is the first film of its scale to be shot entirely on IMAX cameras. The technical achievement is just one of many superlatives attached to a production that has dominated industry conversation since its original casting announcement.
Based on Homer’s ancient Greek epic, the film follows the warrior Odysseus — played by Matt Damon — in the long and perilous aftermath of the Trojan War as he attempts to return home to Ithaca. Nolan’s adaptation features one of the most star-studded ensembles assembled for any studio film in recent memory: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Mia Goth all appear in supporting roles, with the full cast list stretching well beyond even these names.
The choice to shoot entirely on IMAX cameras represents a significant escalation of Nolan’s longstanding relationship with the premium large-format technology. The director has gradually incorporated more and more IMAX footage into his features since “The Dark Knight,” culminating in “Oppenheimer,” which broke numerous box-office records and demonstrated conclusively that audiences will pay premium prices for the format’s unmatched visual grandeur. “The Odyssey” goes further still, building its entire visual grammar around the format’s expanded aspect ratio and extraordinary resolution.
For Zendaya, the film is one of three major 2026 releases that together constitute what several industry analysts have labeled a banner year of rare proportions. Alongside “The Odyssey,” the actress also appears in “Dune: Part Three” and the highly anticipated “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” a combination that places her at the center of three of the most commercially significant films of the year.
Industry tracking for “The Odyssey” suggests an opening weekend well north of $100 million domestically, with premium-format multipliers expected to push overall revenue significantly higher. The film will face competition from Disney’s live-action “Moana” remake, which opens one week earlier, but analysts believe the sheer distinctiveness of Nolan’s project — both in terms of source material and technical ambition — insulates it from direct head-to-head attrition.
Following “Oppenheimer’s” record-breaking run, expectations for Nolan’s follow-up are extraordinarily high. The director’s consistent ability to marry rigorous intellectual ambition with four-quadrant commercial appeal has made him the rare filmmaker whose name alone functions as a theatrical event. Whether “The Odyssey” can replicate or surpass its predecessor’s performance will be one of the defining box-office questions of the summer.
