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The first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey teases Matt Damon's mythical journey in next summer's biggest movie

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The first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey teases Matt Damon's mythical journey in next summer's biggest movie
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The first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey teases Matt Damon's mythical journey in next summer's biggest movie News By Mireia Mullor, Nick Staniforth published 22 December 2025

The Oppenheimer director defies the gods in the all-new trailer for The Odyssey

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Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google The Odyssey | Official Trailer - YouTube The Odyssey | Official Trailer - YouTube Watch On

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has finally revealed a first full trailer ahead of its release next summer, and it's everything we were hoping to see. For the longest time, the closest thing we’ve had to an official look at Nolan’s next big movie was Matt Damon rocking some pretty impressive headgear and a toga. Now we finally get a good look at the star-studded epic, and we’re more hungry for it now than ever.

Following the release of some official first-look pictures, the film's prologue was unveiled on IMAX attached to screenings of Sinners and One Battle After Another in early December. It's now playing ahead of screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash, and starts with a question – "You hear the story of the horse?" – and continues by showing the huge wooden horse being dragged with ropes towards the gates of Troy. Shortly afterward, the ruse is revealed, and the battle starts.

The first full trailer, which you can see above, includes some of those images as it offers a wider look at the highly anticipated film.

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  • Matt Damon in The Odyssey Matt Damon "literally" went through The Odyssey to make Christopher Nolan's new epic, says co-star: "He would always have this incredible excitement about what we were doing"

Following his Oscar-winning turn with Oppenheimer, the revered filmmaker who loves a good IMAX-shot sequence has adapted one of the oldest written stories in human history, which chronicles the story of King Odysseus, as he makes his lengthy journey back home from the ten-year-long Trojan War. Not one for horsing around, Odysseus’ journey from Troy to Ithaca lasts another ten years, where the hero is tortured by the gods on his travels by all manner of mythical beasts and tests. If that wasn’t bad enough, his son Telemachus (expected to be Tom Holland) is fending off suitors who are all set on marrying Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, before he makes it back. Time is of the essence, but in a Nolan film, that’s pretty normal.

Nolan previously revealed that he shot over two million feet of film – nearly 400 miles worth – including filming on the open ocean, for which the filmmaker spent "four months" at sea in a "pretty primal" experience.

It’s a daring venture for Nolan (the usual, then?), who has an army of A-listers bringing the story to life. Along with lead stars Matt Damon and Tom Holland, there’s also Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Ryan Hurst and John Leguizamo bringing the ancient story to the screen.

Expect massive bang for your buck as well, given that this will be the first film shot entirely in IMAX. You’ll be able to see just what kind of immense journey we’re in store for when The Odyssey arrives in theaters on July 17, 2026.

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For more, check out our list of all upcoming movies in 2026.

Nick StaniforthNick StaniforthSocial Links NavigationContributing Writer

Nick is a freelancer whose work can be found at Screen Rant, The Digital Fix, and Looper. He loves movies, TV, DC, and Marvel. He also believes that the best Robin Hood is still a talking fox.

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