Christopher Nolan Unveils The Odyssey Trojan Horse Footage at CinemaCon

Christopher Nolan presented new footage from his upcoming Imax event film, The Odyssey, during Universal’s presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas on April 15, 2026. The historical drama is based on the ancient Greek epic poem by Homer and marks Nolan’s follow-up to Oppenheimer.

The filmmaker appeared on stage at the Colosseum to a standing ovation, where he discussed his motivations for adapting the story. Nolan described the epic as one that has fascinated generation after generation for 3,000 years and stated that it’s not a story, it’s the story.

Nolan expressed a desire to utilize the exciting opportunity of bringing the narrative to a modern cinema audience. He also revealed that he achieved his goal of capturing the entire production on Imax.

Footage and Plot Details

The footage unveiled at the event provided a look at the film’s scale and narrative structure. One sequence featured Matt Damon as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, speaking with the nymph Calypso, played by Charlize Theron. In the scene, Calypso has held Odysseus hostage on her island for seven years following the Trojan War.

During this exchange, Odysseus asks Calypso how long he has been there, noting that he does not remember anything before Troy and questioning if he had a wife, children, or a son.

The presentation then transitioned to Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, played by Tom Holland. Footage showed Telemachus being told the story of the Greek raid on Troy by Menelaus, portrayed by Jon Bernthal.

The most intense segment of the footage depicted the Trojan Horse attack. The sequence showed the Trojans pulling the horse from the ocean and moving it through the sand via cables into the city. By night, Odysseus, Menelaus, and other Greek soldiers emerged from the horse to win the 10-year Trojan War.

Production and Casting

Nolan described the process of filming The Odyssey as an absolute nightmare to film — in all the right ways, and suggested that his leading man, Matt Damon, would agree with this assessment.

While Nolan joked that the cast was so large it would be quicker for me to tell you who isn’t in The Odyssey than who is, several key cast members have been identified:

• Matt Damon as Odysseus
• Charlize Theron as Calypso
• Tom Holland as Telemachus
• Anne Hathaway as Odysseus’s wife
• Jon Bernthal as Menelaus

Nolan mentioned that he decided to appear at the CinemaCon presentation solo because the combined talent of the cast would collapse the stage.

At the time of the presentation on April 15, 2026, Nolan revealed that he was almost finished with the film’s cut.

During the event, Nolan also shared a lighthearted moment, joking that he was glad he did not have to follow Steven Spielberg, whose film Disclosure Day was teased later that afternoon.