Christopher Nolan Had One Condition To Direct The Odyssey

Christopher Nolan is ready to unleash "The Odyssey" upon audiences, giving Homer's epic poem a makeover. So far, early reactions seem to agree that the film is a magnificent spectacle, praising Nolan for capturing the grandeur of the story being brought to the big screen.

This is important, because it's the key to why Nolan wanted to tell this particular story. For the filmmaker who has come to become synonymous with IMAX and big screen storytelling, the appeal of Homer's epic was the opportunity to do a Ray Harryhausen movie in IMAX with an A-budget. Ray Harryhausen's work on "Jason and the Argonauts" and "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" is the closest we've come to capturing the kind of fantastical creatures ofy "The Odyssey" in film, but Nolan aims to go bigger.

Then there's the other key element of "The Odyssey," its rating. The film, like "Oppenheimer," is rated R. Turns out, this was not just happenstance, but Nolan's big ask when making the film. In an interview with Empire (via World of Reel), Nolan said he went to the studio at the very beginning of the process to talk about wanting to make "The most intense version of 'The Odyssey.'" The director wanted a movie that was "visceral and modern," and would not compromise:

"With the weapons of the time, they are more brutal— you're talking about swords and bows and arrows and things like that. So I concluded pretty early that it would be pretty difficult and potentially compromising to make a PG-13 version of this story."

This is not the first R-rated movie Christopher Nolan directed, as "The Odyssey" is just continuing the MPA trend Nolan began with "Oppenheimer." Still, it might be a bit surprising that Universal agreed to this considering it is very likely this is the most expensive R-rated movie ever made, which obviously limits the box office earnings of the film somewhat.

But "The Odyssey" is going all in on Christopher Nolan as a recognizable piece of IP, the guy who can make a cinematic must-watch event out of anything, including a biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer. If that movie could somehow become a global box office hit in addition to a critical and awards darling, there's no reason why "The Odyssey" shouldn't pull the same feat.

As for why Nolan needed the R-rating, it feels more like a factor of not being limited by silly and arbitrary rules rather than a desire for Nolan to do his own "300." After all, Homer's epic includes gory battles and a Cyclops that mutilates and eats people. Could Nolan do the PG-13 version of the story and avoid blood? Sure, probably. But even if the film lands on the softer side of the R-rating, it is worth it for Nolan to be free to recreate his vision of the story without restrictions. That, or he's going to have the Cyclops hang dong like the devil at the end of "This is the End" but in full IMAX aspect ratio. In any case, it will be a sight to behold.