A set video provides a new look at Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
, teasing a major battle sequence. After the mᴀssive success of Oppenheimer in 2023, Nolan has set his sights on a different kind of historical epic in the form of an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey. The film, which tells the tale of Odysseus’ 20-year journey home after the Trojan War, features an impressive cast, including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, and Lupita Nyong’o, and filming is reported to have started in February.
@OdysseyHypeGuy on X, formerly Twitter, now shares a grainy look at The Odyssey‘s filming at the historic Aït Benhaddou village in Morocco. The nighttime video shows the location dotted with raging fires, smoke filling the sky above. Though no actual infantry fighting is visible in the short video, which was filmed from some distance away, the sounds of chanting and yelling can be heard echoing from the city streets.
Click here to watch The Odyssey’s set video on X.
What The Odyssey Set Video Means For The Christopher Nolan Movie
The Upcoming Film Continues One Key Nolan Staple
Though many questions remain about how exactly Nolan will be adapting Homer’s The Odyssey, the video above confirms that the film will maintain several key Nolan traditions. Crucially, the film looks to be relying heavily on practical effects, which have been a staple of Nolan’s movies so far. Though it’s possible the battle sequence above will be enhanced or augmented in some way with visual effects, the fires scattered across the town are all real.
This epic practical filmmaking comes at a heavy cost, however, and it’s been reported that The Odyssey‘s budget is a whopping $250 million, which would make it the most expensive Nolan movie ever. This would make the movie’s break-even point at least $500 million, but it could be higher. Nolan’s use of practical filmmaking methods for the battle sequence above raises questions about how he will tackle one notable portion of Homer’s The Odyssey in which Odysseus battles Polyphemus, a giant cyclops.
Rumors suggest that Nolan will use a large puppet for the Polyphemus scenes in The Odyssey and that the sequence will be filmed in Nestor Cave in Greece.
Our Take On The Odyssey Set Video
Nolan’s Next Film Will Be A Theatrical Event
After Oppenheimer, a three-hour, R-rated historical drama, grossed close to $1 billion in 2023, expectations are high for Nolan’s take on The Odyssey. From the set video, though, Nolan is pulling out all the stops to make his upcoming film a truly epic affair, and one that will benefit from a presentation in theaters and the IMAX format, specifically.
What will be especially interesting will be seeing Damon’s Odysseus in action in a future set video or image. Prior to the release of that first official promo image of Damon in costume, some were speculating that Holland could be playing Odysseus, but Nolan evidently opted for the more traditional casting route here. It remains to be seen how audiences will respond to Nolan’s The Odyssey, but the latest set video is sure to only increase the hype surrounding the film.
Source: @OdysseyHypeGuy
