- The first teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey starring Matt Damon, which is currently being exhibited in US cinemas, has been leaked.
- Damon is joined by a star-studded cast that ranges from Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Robert Pattinson; to Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, and Jon Bernthal.
- Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey release date: July 17th, 2026 (international).
Try as you might, it’s pretty damn hard to keep a secret in the era of smartphones. The latest dashed attempt at exclusivity? An early teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan’s mythic blockbuster: The Odyssey.
In line with Nolan’s well-documented prioritisation of the theatrical experience above all else, the footage was only being previewed ahead of Jurassic World Rebirth screenings in North America. And while we can’t link you the grainy copyright-sensitive materials (though the mirror links aren’t exactly hard to find online), we can describe what unfolds.
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The 70-second teaser – which prominently features Tom Holland as Odysseus’ son Telemachus, a mystery character portrayed by Jon Bernthal, and narration by a voice some speculate belongs to Robert Pattinson – opens to a dark ocean and waves crashing along the sandy shore.
“Darkness. Zeus’ laws smashed to pieces. A kingdom without a king since my master died. He knew it was an unwinnable war, and then somehow… somehow he won it,” says the narrator.
This is followed by shots of the famed Trojan Horse (practically achieved, of course). The wooden decoy’s shadow is stretched across the beach, then shown half-submerged in water from a distance.
The teaser cuts to a tense exchange between Holland’s Telemachus and Bernthal’s character at what seems to be a flame-lit dining event.
“I know nothing of Odysseus, not since Troy,” Bernthal says as a storm rolls in over the water.
“I have to find out what happened to my father. When did you last see him?” Telemachus replies.
“Interested in rumour, huh? Gossip. Who has a story about Odysseus, huh?” Bernthal begins shouting to the others near them. “You? You have a story?”
Armour-clad Greek soldiers carrying torches march through a city street at night. The words “One Year From Now” appear on a black screen.
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Bernthal continues as we see a faraway shot of a lone Greek soldier stepping into a cave and unsheathing his sword: “Some say he’s rich or some say he’s poor.”
“A Journey Begins” is shown on screen.
“Some say he perished. Some say he’s imprisoned. What say you?” Bernthal asks as shots of more men walking toward a city in the dead of night while a tattered flag flies in the wind flashes.
“Imprisoned?” offers Telemachus.
“What kind of prison? Good, old man like that,” says Bernthal.
More waves, more dramatic tensions, before Matt Damon’s Odysseus is revealed – stranded in the middle of the ocean, floating on driftwood (ostensibly remnants of his ship).
“The Odyssey” and “17. 07. 26” appear on screen. The teaser ends.
The Odyssey marks the third project Damon has collaborated on with Christopher Nolan after Interstellar and Oppenheimer, tying Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises, Interstellar); and the second for Robert Pattinson (Tenet), Himesh Patel (Tenet), plus Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer).
For those of you who’ve somehow evaded the Homeric classic, the story follows Odysseus, King of Ithaca, as he embarks upon a decade-long homecoming following the Trojan War. Along the way, his return is made perilous (and prolonged) by mythical creatures as well as the “wrath of the gods.”
Eventually, the lost king must rescue his wife Penelope (portrayed by Anne Hathaway in the Nolan adaptation) and son Telemachus from swarms of suitors who seek to claim both the queen’s hand, and Ithaca’s throne, for themselves.
While the mythological subject matter is something of a departure from his usual high-concept and historical stories, this represent quite a full-circle moment for Christopher Nolan.
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According to Troy director Wolfgang Petersen, before he changed the game by crafting the genre-defining Batman Begins, a young Nolan was in the running to helm an Odyssey adaptation – which would’ve served as a big-screen sequel to Petersen’s own 2004 Iliad adaptation starring Brad Pitt and Eric Bana, with Sean Bean reprising his role as King Odysseus.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has a July 17th, 2026, release date (the director’s usual mid-year release window for his IMAX efforts) – keep an eye out here for the official footage once Universal Pictures drops it.
