Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey trailer leaks online with wild first look at Tom Holland and Matt Damon; Universal goes on overdrive to take clips down

Indian Express

a day ago

The first trailer of Christopher Nolan's upcoming Greek mythology-based movie, The Odyssey, just leaked online. Even though Nolan wanted to stick to the Oppenheimer route, no online drop, no flashy roll-out, just a clean theatrical-only debut, people with smartphones obviously shot videos of it before screenings of Jurassic World Rebirth. Within hours, blurry phone-shot clips started popping up on TikTok and YouTube. Most were pulled down after copyright strikes, but not before they gave fans a peek at Tom Holland's Telemachus, Jon Bernthal's mystery character, and a glimpse of Matt Damon.
SCREEN won't be dropping any links to the leaked footage, but here's what went down in the trailer. It kicks off with a wide shot of the sea, and a rusty voiceover saying, 'Darkness. Zeus' law was 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.' The tone's set. Cut to Tom Holland as Telemachus, Odysseus's son, who's on a mission to find his missing father. He's seen talking to Jon Bernthal's character; still no word on who he's playing. 'I have to find out what happened to my father,' Holland says. Bernthal's character responds, 'Interested in rumour, huh? Gossip. Who has a story about Odysseus?' Then he turns to the crowd, shouting, 'You? You have a story?'
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We see Greek soldiers in armour, with torches, marching through the city at night. Then comes the line that's all over the internet: 'Some say he's rich. Some say he's poor. Some say he perished. Some say he's imprisoned.' He continued, 'What kind of prison could hold a man like that?' The visuals are massive, one quick shot of the Trojan Horse first in shadow, then half-sunk in water. There's also a brief glimpse of Odysseus himself, played by Matt Damon, clinging to driftwood out at sea. The film is adapted from Homer's The Odyssey. It shows how Odysseus' Trojan Horse plan was to sneak Greek soldiers into Troy, wipe them out, and end the war. His trip home takes off ten years later after his ship crashes, and he ends up facing monsters like the Cyclops and more.
Along with Holland, Damon and Bernthal, the cast is stacked, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong'o, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, and more.
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The Odyssey is being shot entirely on IMAX cameras, something Nolan's never done before. It's made on a $250 million budget, his biggest yet. Filming is happening across Greece, Morocco, and Italy, staying true to the Mediterranean roots of Homer's original. And if you know the original tale, it's not about the war, it's what comes after. Odysseus, King of Ithaca, spent ten years just trying to get home after Troy. Nolan's version, according to early buzz, will mess with time, memory, and myth. The Odyssey hits theatres on July 17, 2026.