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Christopher Nolan to reunite with Oppenheimer actor for new movie

Nolan is following up Oppenheimer with an adaptation of Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’

Greg Evans
Friday 31 January 2025 04:36 GMT
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Oppenheimer trailer

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Director Christopher Nolan is set to reunite with one of the stars from his multi-award-winning film Oppenheimer for his next movie.

The Inception director will follow up his Oscar win with an adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, which is set to be released in July 2026.

One of the most significant works of early literature, it is attributed to the poet Homer and is believed to have been written in the eighth century BC. It is a mythical tale following the Greek hero Odysseus, king of Ithaca, as he journeys home after the Trojan War.

It was previously confirmed that the film will feature an all-star cast, including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway and Charlize Theron.

Joining the cast, as per The Hollywood Reporter, is Benny Safdie, who played physicist Edward Teller in Oppenheimer.

Safdie, 38, has also appeared in the Nathan Fielder TV show The Curse and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. He is due to star in the forthcoming sequel to Happy Gilmore and is in post-production on his solo directorial debut The Smashing Machine. Safdie previously co-directed the critically lauded Uncut Gems and Good Time with his brother, Josh Safdie.

Josh and Benny Safide in 2014
Josh and Benny Safide in 2014 (Getty Images)

It is not the first time The Odyssey has been adapted for the screen. Kirk Douglas played Ulysses (the Latin name for Odysseus) in Mario Camerini’s 1954 film Ulysses. The 1905 short silent film The Mysterious Island by Georges Méliès is based on scenes from The Odyssey.

The epic poem has also provided the inspiration for several films that transposed the heroic tale to different times and settings, including Cold Mountain, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

Earlier this year, Nolan’s longtime producer and wife Emma Thomas teased the forthcoming feature in an interview with Empire.

“I would say it’s very exciting,” she said. “This is the moment where the possibilities are sort of limitless, we haven’t started thinking practicalities, or anything.

Oppenheimer was so absurdly successful and we feel like we have an opportunity.”

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