The first trailer for Sir Christopher Nolan’s eagerly anticipated next film The Odyssey has debuted in cinemas – and promptly been leaked online.
With a whole year still to go before its July 2026 release, the film, based on Homer’s epic poem, is actually still deep in production.
Filming moved to Scotland last week, with star Matt Damon, who is playing the lead role of hero Odysseus, spotted in Moray while the ‘mythic action epic’ films at Findlater Castle.
But as he did with Oscar-winning box office smash Oppenheimer, Nolan has delivered an intriguing teaser trailer to screen in front of his studio Universal’s latest summer release, which was Jordan Peele’s Nope two years ago.
While we won’t link to any of the leaked material, fans who have caught it are reacting with predictable glee given Nolan’s triumphant reputation as a filmmaker.
‘My life has been changed by the Odyssey teaser trailer,’ announced Joel on X while @yashsayings added: ‘Holy, this gonna be epic.’
‘The Odyssey teaser trailer gave me chills. Nolan Nation, we are so back,’ enthused Mari as @bastistinson simply declared: ‘In Nolan We Trust.’
‘Bernthal Oscar incoming,’ suggested @theylovekado of one of the cast members who features most prominently in it, with Ethan chiming in: ‘Would love that for him tbh haha.’
Fan Jay also expressed his love for the film after having seen less than 70 seconds from it by posting a gif showing someone quickly adding a five-star review to Letterboxd.
‘Just saw the Odyssey trailer leak…,’ he tweeted.
The trailer opens with views across an ocean as a voiceover intones: ‘Darkness. Zeus’s law smashed to pieces. I’m without a king since my master died.’
We then see a shadow and glimpse of the famous Trojan horse on the beach as it continues: ‘He knew it was an unwinnable war. And then somehow… somehow, he won it.’
‘I know nothing of Odysseus, not since Troy,’ Jon Bernthal’s as-yet unidentified character then says before the trailer cuts to a scene showing him and Tom Holland as Telemachus in a candlelit dining hall.
‘I have to find out what happened to my father. When did you last see him?’ the younger man asks to Bernthal’s character who appears slightly hostile thanks to his growling voice coupled with the quietly eerie and slightly foreboding background music.
‘Who has a story about Odysseus? You? You have a story?’ Bernthal’s character then asks the room before adding: ‘Some say he’s rich. Some say he’s poor. Some say he perished. Some say he’s imprisoned.’
While he speaks we see glimpses of men in armour holding torches and heading down an alleyway – perhaps sacking Troy – and a man drawing his sword as he leads those following him into a cave.
‘What kind of prison could hold a man like that?’ Bernthal’s character then asks as it cuts to a shot of what appears to be Damon as Odysseus, lying unconscious on the partial wreck of a ship in the sea.
What is The Odyssey about?
The Odyssey is one of two major epic poems attributed to Homer from around the 8th century BC, and follows on from the first – the Iliad, which is concerned with the Trojan War.
The Odyssey follows the king of Ithaca, Odysseus, on his 10-year quest to return to his home island after a decade at Troy.
Along the way he must contend with the wrath of the gods and perils including being enslaved by a nymph, cannibals, an angry Cyclops, a sea-witch, a treacherous whirlpool and a six-headed monster.
Meanwhile at home on Ithaca, his wife Penelope and now-adult son Telemachus (Holland) must contend with a horde of suitors descending on the palace and pressuring her to choose one of them in the place of her presumed-dead husband so they can take the throne
Who is in the cast and are who are they playing?
Unsurprisingly, Nolan has attracted a star-studded cast but we only know the casting for a few key players so far, including Damon as Odysseus and Holland as Telemachus.
Charlize Theron recently revealed that she will be playing the witch-goddess Circe, while Bernthal’s appearance in the trailer suggests he could be playing either Nestor or Menelaus, legendary kings in Greek mythology who the youngster visits looking for information as to his father’s whereabouts. Given the advancing age of Nestor, Menelaus could be more likely.
The sprawling cast for The Odyssey includes:
- Matt Damon
- Tom Holland
- Charlize Theron
- Anne Hathaway
- Robert Pattinson
- Zendaya
- Lupita Nyong’o
- Jon Bernthal
- Elliot Page
- Samantha Morton
- Benny Safdie
- Mia Goth
- John Leguizamo
- Bill Irwin
- Himesh Patel
- Cosmo Jarvis
How to legitimately see the trailer
The trailer for The Odyssey is now showing exclusively in cinemas ahead of Universal’s 205 summer blockbuster candidate, Jurassic World Rebirth, which released today.
So we encourage you to check it out as its director intended it, on the big screen.
The Odyssey is scheduled for release in cinemas on July 17, 2026.
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