Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey releases epic first look trailer with star-stacked cast for mythological adventure

It's been almost exactly a year since it was announced that Christopher Nolan's next film would be an adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey – and in the twelve months since, it's safe to say anticipation has been slowly ramping up.

Well, now we've been given our best look yet at the upcoming project ahead of its release next summer, with a full trailer having been released by Universal. The teaser includes just under two minutes of footage from the blockbuster, giving us a close look at Matt Damon as Odysseus and Tom Holland as Telemachus while setting the scene for what looks set to be a masterful, sweeping epic.

Soundtracked by a foreboding score, we see the lead character traverse through beaches and forests and stormy seas, and even get some brief glimpses of the mythological beings he encounters during the saga. We also hear Damon's voice declaring: "After years of war, no one could stand between my men and home. Not even me."

Meanwhile, at the very end of the trailer, we hear Anne Hathaway – as Odysseus's wife Penelope – emotionally tell her husband, "Promise me you will come back", to which he ominously replies "What if I can't?"

Check out the trailer in full below:

While this is the first footage of the film to be released far and wide, cinemagoers who have been to see Avatar: Fire and Ash in IMAX since it's release on Friday have been treated to a five-minute sequence from the opening of Nolan's latest epic, although it's not clear if that preview will eventually also be released online.

Given the richness of the source material, the incredibly star-studded ensemble cast, and the director's stellar reputation when it comes to event cinema, there can be no doubting that The Odyssey was among the most hotly anticipated films set for release in 2026 even before the release of this tantalising trailer.

Alongside the aforementioned Damon, Holland and Hathaway, Nolan's reimagining of Homer's iconic text will also include key roles for Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie and Mia Goth, among many others.

It will be the director's first film since his Oscar-winning success with Oppenheimer, and he has been reunited with a number other behind-the-scenes talents who won Academy Awards for their work on that film, including cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, composer Ludwig Göransson and editor Jennifer Lame.

The official synopsis for the film teases that it "follows Odysseus, the legendary Greek king of Ithaca, on his long and perilous journey home following the Trojan War, chronicling his encounters with mythical beings such as the Cyclops Polyphemus, the Sirens, and the witch-goddess Circe, while attempting to reunite with his wife, Penelope."

That summer release date can't come soon enough...

The Odyssey will be released in cinemas on 17th July 2026.

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