The 20-Year Tradition Christopher Nolan Just Kept With The Odyssey Reveal

Christopher Nolan is finally pulling the curtain back on The Odyssey, and yeah, the hype machine is officially starting to hum.

Empire is leading the charge

Empire has put The Odyssey front and center for its big 2026 Preview issue, landing online and on newsstands on November 20. The editor has been teasing this as their biggest issue of the year, which tracks, because we have basically been living off crumbs with this movie until now.

This is familiar territory for Nolan and Empire. Most of his tentpoles have snagged a cover since Batman Begins, with two notable exceptions: Oppenheimer and Dunkirk did not get dedicated Empire covers.

• Batman Begins (2005)
• The Dark Knight (2008)
• Inception (2010)
• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
• Interstellar (2014)
• The Odyssey cover arrives in 2025, ahead of the film’s 2026 release

What’s actually in this issue

Empire’s first image tease shows a Trojan horse and an accompanying piece of artwork. There’s also a first still of Matt Damon from the film. The full issue promises fresh interviews: Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema dig into how they are adapting the Greek epic, and Damon talks about his transformation for the title role in what the team is calling Nolan’s grandest vision yet. Consider this the official kickoff for the movie’s marketing push before it sails into theaters next summer.

The IMAX swing Nolan has been chasing

Here’s the eyebrow-raising part: The Odyssey is the first feature to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. If you know how those cameras work, you know why that’s a big deal. They’ve historically been heavy, clunky, and loud enough to make on-set dialogue a pain (a recurring complaint with some of Nolan’s past films). That’s why you get partial IMAX sequences in blockbusters, not wall-to-wall IMAX on film.

For this one, IMAX re-engineered its gear to be lighter and quieter to meet Nolan’s needs. IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond put it this way:

"Chris called me up and said, 'If you can figure out how to solve the problems, I will make [Odyssey] 100 percent in Imax.' And that’s what we’re doing. He forced us to rethink that side of our business, our film recorders, our film cameras."

In other words, this is the format play Nolan has been building toward for years. Expect an emphasis on premium presentations too: more 70mm screens are being added across the U.S. and South America, and IMAX plans to run the movie exclusively on its screens for an extended window after release. If you wanted a reason to track down a true 70mm or IMAX theater, he just gave you one.

The timeline

The Odyssey drops July 17, 2026. The Empire cover and first-look material hit November 20 and essentially start the countdown. Given how quiet this production has been, get ready for a flood of details next week.