Christopher Nolan's 2026 Movie Has Been Revealed — And It's A Greek Epic

For months, there has been rampant speculation over Christopher Nolan's follow-up to "Oppenheimer," the three-hour epic that earned him the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. The cast has been gradually coming together: Matt Damon, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Anne Hathaway and Charlize Theron. Could it be a vampire flick? For a time, there was a hilarious rumor that Nolan was planning a remake of the John Badham police helicopter action flick "Blue Thunder" — because apparently that's how you spend clout after winning two Oscars and making a $977 million-grossing R-rated masterpiece.

For those who were hoping Matt Damon and Tom Holland would rekindle the crackling chemistry generated by Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern in "Blue Thunder," I have very bad news for you. For everyone else, if you were hoping for Nolan to push the envelope in terms of scope and technology, you're going to get the epic of epics. I just hope you like poetry.

Homer's "The Odyssey" has been adapted many times throughout film history. Kirk Douglas played the epic hero Ulysses in a star-studded film from director Mario Camerini in 1954, while, more recently, George Clooney memorably crooned as the freedom-seeking leader of the Soggy Bottom Boys in Joel and Ethan Coen's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Did you go to school? Did you have a teacher spend at least one day on Greek mythology? You know "The Odyssey." So here's the deal. According to a tweet from Universal Pictures:

"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."

For cinematic sensation seekers, this promises to be ... well, who's to say? If Nolan's using new IMAX technology and the film's a year-and-a-half away, there's no telling what he's up to. What we can absolutely expect is that Nolan will devote every ounce of his filmmaking wherewithal to the tale of Ulysses undertaking an arduous journey back home to Ithaca to be with his suitor-besieged wife Penelope. What I'm hoping for is a traditionally told version of the tale with sirens, a sea-faring adventure, and a massive cyclops. There's always the possibility that Nolan will do an update of the material and set this in the present day, which could be cool, too! But as of now, I want a great big Greek epic shot and presented in 70mm film. Regardless of how Nolan approaches it, this is officially the cinematic event of 2026 and a movie we'll be widely speculating over for a long time to come.