More details about Christopher Nolan‘s forthcoming movie version of Homer’s The Odyssey have been revealed.
Matt Damon, it was announced Monday, will be playing the lead role of Odysseus.
Universal shared the update with the below first-look photo of the actor in character in the epic.
Damon is joined in the star-studded film by Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton and Mia Goth.
After many of the A-list castings were announced while the subject of Nolan’s next film remained a mystery, Universal revealed shortly before Christmas that the movie would be an adaptation of The Odyssey, which the studio teased as a “mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology.”
Universal, which released Oppenheimer, is partnering with Nolan again on The Odyssey after the filmmaker’s public break from longtime studio home Warner Bros. in 2020.
Homer’s epic poem tells of Odysseus’ perilous 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. As Odysseus makes his way back, he’s forced to contend with interruptions from the gods and other mythical creatures. Meanwhile, his wife and son have to contend with suitors seeking to replace him.
Nolan’s The Odyssey is set to hit theaters on July 17, 2026. Production is expected to begin later this month.
The movie marks Damon’s third collaboration with Nolan, after Oppenheimer and Interstellar.
Nolan won his first Oscars for Oppenheimer, taking home prizes for best picture and best director at the 2024 Academy Awards.
