Posted in: Movies, Universal | Tagged: the odyssey

The Odyssey Will Be Shot Entirely On IMAX Film Cameras

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will be shot entirely on IMAX film cameras after IMAX fixed the weight and sound issues that made the camera difficult to use.

Large format and specialty theaters are having a moment this year following the success of Sinners. It's quite clear that there is a large demand for films shot in formats like IMAX, and people are willing to hand out the extra money if it means they get to have a premium experience. Directors like Christopher Nolan have been worshiping at the altar of IMAX for many years, but with The Odyssey, he is forcing the company to change things because he wants more. Not only did Nolan want to shoot the entire film on IMAX, he wanted to shoot it on an IMAX film camera, which are much bigger, louder, and harder to cart around. At the Cannes Film Festival, IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond (via The Hollywood Reporter) said that Nolan essentially called him up and asked him to figure out the hurdles for shooting an entire film on IMAX film, and Nolan would commit to using that format.

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

According to Genfond, that means the cameras are now 30% quieter, "so those infamous muffled dialogue scenes in Nolan films could be a thing of the past — and substantially lighter." Apparently, we are blaming the camera for Nolan's sometimes poor sound design choices, but that's neither here nor there. Gelfond also believes, "new film scanning and processing techniques will allow a faster turnaround for dailies." Nolan is the only one using these cameras at the moment, but that will change once The Odyssey is finished filming. Several big projects have secured spots in IMAX theaters, and several more directors seem to be interested in the idea of shooting specifically with IMAX film.

Christopher Nolan Returning To Universal For The Odyssey Makes Total Sense

At the beginning of October, it was officially announced that Christopher Nolan would be returning to Universal for his next film following the success of Oppenheimer. It seemed to be the final nail in the coffin for Nolan's relationship with Warner Bros. Universal, which appears to be giving him whatever he wants, which makes sense considering the whole Barbeheimer thing, the box office, and the awards seasons. Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Iddo Goldberg, John Leguizamo, and Michael Vlamis have reportedly joined the cast, and the untitled film was given a prime-time release date of July 17, 2026. On December 24, 2024, it was announced on X/Twitter that Nolan would be adapting the classic, The Odyssey: "Christopher Nolan's next film 'The Odyssey' is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. The film brings Homer's foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026."

What happened with Oppenheimer in the summer of 2023 was one of those beautiful and possibly once-in-a-lifetime moments. The way the world leaned into the Barbenheimer thing and proved that there was space for two excellent films to open simultaneously without cannibalizing each other was almost unheard of. People will try to make it happen again, but it was an organic thing that came about with no influence from studio marketing. Studio marketing and everyone involved decided that leaning in was the way to go, and it worked out well for everyone.

Barbie ended up with a total box office of $1.45 billion and a place in the pop culture landscape that isn't going away anytime soon. Nolan's Oppenheimer walked away with a sweet $976 million, becoming the third highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time [at the time of writing] and securing its place in the pop culture conversation by becoming a slow-moving character piece that did numbers. Oppenheimer also won seven Academy Awards, including the coveted Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor. So it's not surprising that Universal happily courted Nolan again and is likely doing exactly what Warner Bros. did in the heyday of their partnership: writing him a blank check and setting him loose on a movie set.

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