How Christopher Nolan took it upon himself Odyssey, Matt Damon I had to learn to perform for a new environment.
The Oscar-winning actor recently spoke at length about some of the challenges he faces shooting the film entirely on Imax camerassomething that had never been done before the film adaptation of Homer's 8th century BC epic under Nolan's direction.
“In this case it was 100 percent on Imax“, he said on New Heights podcast. “It was the first movie that was ever shot entirely in Imax. Imax cameras are very loud. When the camera is close to you, it sounds like a blender, like culinary arts. So those dialogues never happened. [scenes in Imax]. We couldn't have this conversation with a regular Imax camera because you wouldn't hear us.”
Damon added: “They built this giant Imax thing for the dialogue scenes and a mirror system so your eyeline would be close to the camera and you could talk to the other actor. The amount of work that went into figuring out how to do that,” Damon added. [that]because he wanted to make it 100 percent IMAX, and he did it!”
Imax CEO Rich Gelfond previously recalled that Nolan contacted him about a year before filming and said he wanted fire Odyssey 100% in Imax.
“It couldn’t be done for many reasons,” Gelfond said, adding: “There were a lot of problems.”
Gelfond said Nolan told him, “I'm going to give you a challenge. If you can figure out how to solve these problems, I'm going to make the Odyssey movie 100% with Imax cameras,” and we solved his problems. So, this will be the first film ever shot at least 100% with Imax cameras.”
A film adaptation of one of the first stories in human history. Odyssey follows Odysseus (Damon) through the incredible trials and mythical encounters he encounters during his ten-year journey home to his wife Penelope after the Trojan War.
Premiere July 17, 2026 in Imax. Odyssey also stars Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Jesse Garcia, Will Yun Lee, Rafi Gavron, Shiloh Fernandez, Mia Goth and others.
