Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey set as Universal’s next IMAX tentpole

Universal Pictures is setting Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey for an IMAX launch on July 17, 2026, making it the studio’s next large-format centerpiece. The move extends a pattern Nolan sharpened with Oppenheimer, a film that turned awards-season prestige into a global commercial event.

That earlier film gave Universal a rare crossover hit. Oppenheimer won Best Picture and Best Director at the 96th Academy Awards on March 10, 2024, and Universal says the film earned nearly $1 billion at the global box office. The combination confirmed Nolan as one of the few contemporary directors who can make a serious, hours-long historical drama play like a must-see opening-weekend release.

The Odyssey is being framed in the same terms, only with even more emphasis on scale. Matt Damon is starring as Odysseus, and Universal previewed a Trojan Horse sequence at CinemaCon, signaling a production built around big-format spectacle. Nolan himself called the shoot a “nightmare to film,” a line that fits the project’s mythic ambitions and the studio’s decision to position it as a major theatrical event rather than a conventional star vehicle.

Tom Holland has added to the sense of anticipation by describing the film as the “job of a lifetime.” Universal has also reportedly skipped influencer screenings ahead of release, a sign the studio is treating the rollout as tightly managed and guarding the film’s first impression. In an era when studios increasingly rely on short-form hype and social media preview culture, that approach suggests Universal still sees Nolan’s films as rare occasions that can draw audiences on the strength of scale, secrecy and director-driven trust.

For Hollywood, the larger story is not just that Nolan is returning to IMAX. It is that he has become the clearest example of a filmmaker who can move between art-house seriousness and blockbuster reach without losing either audience. Oppenheimer supplied the proof, with seven Academy Award wins and near-billion-dollar global grosses; The Odyssey is now the next test of whether that same formula can be repeated on a mythic scale.