The Odyssey IMAX Prologue Rumored to Hit Theaters Within Weeks, Attached to Two of the Year’s Best Films
Clear your calendars: Christopher Nolan returns next summer with a new epic poised to ignite the blockbuster season.
If you were already planning to hit those IMAX screenings of Sinners or One Battle After Another, you might be getting a pre-Christmas bonus you did not plan for.
A surprise Nolan prologue might be attached next week
Rumor alert, but a solid one: World of Reel says a 5-minute, 47-second prologue for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will be attached to IMAX showings of both Sinners and One Battle After Another starting December 11. On top of that, a brand-new trailer is expected to play before Avatar: Fire and Ash when that lands in theaters on December 19.
What the footage reportedly shows
This could be the same sequence Empire Magazine just wrote up in its cover story. It apparently opens with a simple question: 'You hear the story of the horse?' From there, you get a massive wooden horse being hauled by ropes toward the gates of Troy. The trick gets exposed, chaos follows, and the prologue wraps with a Cyclops moment because of course it does.
The cast is stacked
- Matt Damon as Odysseus
- Tom Holland as Telemachus
- Anne Hathaway as Penelope
- Zendaya as Athena
- Mia Goth as Melantho
- Jon Bernthal as Agamemnon
- Also in the mix: Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, and more
Damon is all-in
'I can say, without hyperbole, that it was the best experience of my career. I saw the horse on the beach and I was just like, 'F***.' It was just so cool.'
Nolan doing... very Nolan things
The Odyssey is Nolan's first film after his Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, and he is not exactly dialing it back. He says he shot over two million feet of film, which works out to nearly 400 miles of footage. A lot of that was on the open ocean, and he personally spent about four months at sea. Yes, he is going for it.
Timing
If the rumor checks out, the IMAX prologue starts playing December 11 with Sinners and One Battle After Another. The new trailer should roll before Avatar: Fire and Ash on December 19. The Odyssey itself hits theaters July 17, 2026.