Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' brings Greek epic to China with IMAX milestone

Christopher Nolan said at the Beijing premiere of his new Greek epic "The Odyssey" on July 30 that the film offers a chance to reimagine the classic myth for audiences using the most advanced IMAX technology.

Christopher Nolan speaks at the China premiere of "The Odyssey" in Beijing, July 30, 2026. [Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures]

"I think as a filmmaker, you're always looking for something to challenge yourself, but also something hopefully the audience hasn't seen before," Nolan said. "I was really struck by the fact that the world of Greek mythology, the oldest foundation of story in Western literature, and 'The Odyssey,' Homer's great epic, hadn't been told in this form in a modern film. And so to me, that just seemed like a tremendous opportunity."

"The Odyssey" premiered at the China National Film Museum in Beijing, marking the first-ever red carpet event held there for a commercial film. The venue also hosted the original Chinese launch of "Avatar" in IMAX during the format's early years in the country. The film's wide release date is Aug. 14, but advanced screenings are available on Aug. 1-2 in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, and Aug. 8-9 nationwide in IMAX and CINITY theaters, most of which were sold out.

Nolan, his wife and producer Emma Thomas, and stars Matt Damon and Charlize Theron showed up and greeted enthusiastic fans, signing autographs while the audience sang "Happy Birthday" to Nolan, as the director's 56th birthday fell on the same day.

"The Odyssey" tells the story of Odysseus, who, after the Trojan War, faces a dangerous voyage back to Ithaca. On this journey he encounters Polyphemus, the Cyclops, as well as Sirens and Calypso. As this occurs his own wife and son must defend the throne and themselves whilst waiting for his return.

As an event film, it has surpassed $911 million at the global box office, becoming the fifth highest-grossing movie of the year by Aug. 2. It is projected to go beyond $1 billion with China's future gross.

Emma Thomas said the biggest challenge with this film was really the scale of it. "We've made some pretty big and ambitious films before, but this was like all of them all rolled into one," she said. "But when you work with such incredible professionals, both cast and crew, it gives you a sort of level of comfort that going in you can solve any problem."

Nolan recalled that making the film felt like more than just filmmaking, the cast and crew were living inside it. He described the daily hike up the mountain, the only way to reach the location. They climbed 1,000 feet every morning, arriving tired but united. Once at the summit, they understood why the location was special, it was the perfect setting for Ithaca, Odysseus' home.

He also mentioned filming on the sea in the real environment. "I think particularly when you get to the boats, for example, the fact that we were able to have our cast and our crew out on a real boat in real weather and real waves, I think it just gives a tactile sense of reality of bringing the audience to a place in a way that you couldn't achieve in the studio."

To make this epic even more spectacular, Nolan, a two-decade IMAX collaborator, ever since "The Dark Knight," adopted unprecedented IMAX technology. The most outstanding feature of "The Odyssey" is that it is making history as the first narrative feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras. The 15-perf/65mm camera offers nearly ten times the resolution of 35mm film. It is a new type of camera, named after the late IMAX Chief Quality Officer David Keighley, with a soundproof housing for dialogue scenes to be shot in IMAX for the first time, which is a breakthrough developed by Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema.

Producer Emma Thomas, actors Charlize Theron and Matt Damon, and director Christopher Nolan pose for a photo on the red carpet at the China premiere of "The Odyssey" in Beijing, July 30, 2026. [Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures]

The shoot consumed a staggering 640 kilometers of film, more than the distance from Toronto to New York. The new camera's design realizes Nolan's dream of shooting an entire film with IMAX cameras, a vision he had harbored since he was 16.

Matt Damon recalled that early on, he took Thomas aside one morning and called them "crazy" for taking on the seemingly impossible film. "It was like making six different movies, each location challenging, but challenging in a completely different and unique way; And so as soon as we kind of figured out how to deal with one set of challenges, we'd go to another country and be on a new set. And we'd go from the top of a mountain to a boat and be out at sea."

He added, "But we were all there together, and there really was a wonderful team spirit that developed, because it felt more like an expedition than a film. We were all in it together."