Christopher Nolan Josh Telles/PMC Logo text If anyone has earned the audience’s trust, it’s Christopher Nolan.
For over 25 years, the British-American filmmaker has consistently delivered indelible visual spectacle and stimulating food for thought. Fresh off of Oppenheimer’s seven-Oscar triumph (including best picture and best director), Nolan’s thirteenth film, The Odyssey — the first narrative feature shot entirely in IMAX — is no exception to his penchant for thought-provoking blockbusters.
Following near-universal acclaim from critics and moviegoers alike, Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek poem — which chronicles the Greek hero Odysseus (Matt Damon) on his perilous decade-long journey home after the Trojan War — has debuted to $264 million at the worldwide box office, setting the auteur’s global opening weekend record and bolstering an existing career cume that exceeds $6.2 billion. Domestically, it notched $124 million, Nolan’s top opening outside of the Batman franchise, with 23.8 percent of that sum coming from IMAX screens.
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After being introduced to The Odyssey during a grade school play, Nolan nearly brought Homer’s work to the screen during his short stint developing 2004’s Troy. He was on the project long enough to envision Odysseus’ deceptive, war-altering gift of the Trojan Horse wedged into the beach of Troy, a haunting recurring image that he establishes within the first 30 seconds of his Odyssey.
But it wasn’t until Nolan rolled up his sleeves and started writing that he realized just how many traces of The Odyssey he’s unconsciously incorporated into all his films. Consequently, his filmography is also interwoven throughout his rendition of The Odyssey.
You’ll see The Prestige’s Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), Inception’s Cobb (Leonard DiCaprio) and Dunkirk’s Allied soldiers struggling to get home to their families. You’ll notice a ghost-like figure observing their own home à la Interstellar’s Coop (Matthew McConaughey) and The Dark Knight Rises’ Bruce Wayne (Bale). Similar to the latter, you’ll watch another leap of faith to free oneself from a type of prison. You’ll see Odysseus question his fragmented memories in a manner that’s reminiscent of Memento’s Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce). And like Selina Kyle/Catwoman in Rises, another Anne Hathaway character will bear witness to a recluse’s impressive archery skills.
Most notably, Nolan’s mythological epic feels of a piece with the apocalyptic themes of his two other films this decade, Tenet and Oppenheimer. The Trojan Horse is to Odysseus what the atomic bomb was to J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), as both men fear that their extraordinary ingenuity has destroyed not only the laws of war but also civilized society.
Nolan, who’s never one to explicitly define his films, admits that any overlap has emerged after the fact. “Now that I look back on it after finishing The Odyssey, there are interesting parallels [to Oppenheimer],” Nolan tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I try to leave each film I do with thematic concerns and questions that stay a little bit open for me and hopefully the audience too. They are things that I want to explore further without being too self-conscious about it.”
The Odyssey stresses the importance of Zeus’ law, which is otherwise known as the Golden Rule of treating others how you want to be treated. While the film ends on a cautionary note if we don’t heed history’s warnings, Nolan seems to believe our better nature will win out.
“The fact that we have mutual respect is what, to some extent, defines civilization. I don’t think that’s something that can be entirely imposed by, for example, a religious framework,” Nolan says. “I think it has to be innate in us for that to be as prevalent and as effective as it has been over thousands of years.”
Below, Nolan also discusses the relatively new addition to his household that informed The Odyssey’s most heartbreaking moment, as well as the details behind his upcoming re-release of The Prestige.
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Your brief tenure on Troy got the ball rolling decades ago, but in recent years, you’ve also hosted Q&As for two Dune films, as well as Gladiator II. Those movies have elements of The Odyssey within them. Did those conversations tip the scale at all toward this commitment?
In truth, I don’t consciously know. The great work of Ridley Scott and Denis Villeneuve in world building — that capacity of cinema to open up a window into another world — is always inspiring. In taking on the world of The Odyssey and Greek mythology, you’re very specifically looking at a massive world-building project. So enjoying other people’s work in that realm is definitely a big part of what makes it feel exciting.
Director Christopher Nolan on set of The Odyssey. Universal Pictures Are you competitive with your fellow filmmakers’ work?
Absolutely. In the friendliest way, you’re competitive. If you see something in movies that inspires you, you want to try and see what you could add to that. For me, the healthiest form of competition is to be competitive with all of cinema — cinema history, as well as my contemporaries. It’s really about looking back to inspirations from the past. The silent era is always a great source of inspiration for me, but I also remember as a kid going to see the restoration of Lawrence of Arabia when it was released in ‘87. That’s just a mind-blowing epic. These things stick with you. And if you can take on something along those lines or add something to that conversation or bring that type of experience to a modern audience, it’s a fun ambition.
You weren’t kidding when you said The Odyssey is present in all of your work. Thus, all of your work is present in your iteration of The Odyssey. Perhaps most significantly, Odysseus (Matt Damon) and J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) both have similar regrets about their influence on war and what they’ve unleashed in the world. Do you view your two recent films as companions?
Now that I look back on it after finishing The Odyssey, I think there are interesting parallels. I try to leave each film I do with thematic concerns and questions that stay a little bit open for me and hopefully the audience too. They are things that I want to explore further without being too self-conscious about it. In trying to tell The Odyssey for a modern audience and looking at the archeological history and the collapse of the Bronze Age, yeah, I think there are compelling parallels.
My social algorithm has fed me photos of you walking your dog the last few years.
I’m sorry. (Laughs.)
How did your recent dog ownership rub off on the film’s touching story point involving Odysseus’ hunting dog?
It’s funny when you look at the films you’ve made and how they parallel your life. You get married, and then you make a film in which that relationship is important. You have kids, and then you find yourself making films about trying to get home for your kids. I had never had a dog, and a few years ago, we got our first dog as the kids were leaving for college. They were kind of bitter about it. They’d always wanted a dog, and we’d never been able to have one because we were traveling too much. And coming to The Odyssey, it’s the ultimate dog movie. So I was definitely better prepared to take on the ultimate dog movie having become a dog owner.
The world keeps begging you to make a horror movie, but large stretches of The Odyssey contain several horror sub-genres.
I was going to say. They don’t need to beg me to tell a horror story anymore. Just buy a ticket. (Laughs.)
Have you scratched that itch now? Or does The Odyssey only whet your appetite?
It very much whets my appetite for more. But I’ve always believed that horror as a genre has to be approached very carefully from a conceptual point of view. In other words, you have to have an amazing idea. When you go see a film like Obsession, that’s an amazing idea. That movie works like a motherfucker. It’s not about the technical side. It’s not about what technical itches I would have to scratch. It’s about story. So I’m always looking.
The film’s emphasis on Zeus’ law and those who exploit it reminded me, thematically, of a Danish horror film called Speak No Evil (2022). It’s basically about how our strict adherence to social etiquette and politeness can lead to danger. We don’t know who we’re opening the door to, and we don’t know who’s opening the door to us. In general, are you optimistic that the Golden Rule will always prevail?
I am. It’s interesting you make a parallel with [Speak No Evil] because that’s a very dark film. I actually see [The Odyssey] in brighter terms than that. The fact that we have mutual respect is what, to some extent, defines civilization. I don’t think that’s something that can be entirely imposed by, for example, a religious framework. I think it has to be innate in us for that to be as prevalent and as effective as it has been over thousands of years.
Thanks to the newly innovated sound blimp, you were finally able to shoot an entire film in IMAX. Going forward, what advancements would you still like to make to that camera system?
Well, I had dabbled with IMAX cameras on The Prestige the year before, but it was really on The Dark Knight that we took what had been the province of purely documentary filmmakers and brought it into the Hollywood machine. The Hollywood camera crew works in a very different way to a documentary camera crew. So there were a lot of refinements that we were able to bring on that film: different lenses, different ways of pulling focus and different monitoring systems internally. Over the years, that’s carried on, particularly putting IMAX in collaboration with Panavision for a wider variety of lens sets, faster lenses and things like that. It’s really about getting the barrels of these lenses to work effectively with the focus control systems that Hollywood ACs use. All of that is a bit arcane and technical, but it’s always an evolution.
The idea that IMAX has now been able to engineer a way to contain the camera so that it’s effectively silent, that’s a big leap forward. But I’m sure it could be further refined. I know that [DP] Hoyte van Hoytema and his team have already given a lot of feedback on the new cameras they built and the new blimp system. Camera systems are an evolutionary process, and that’s generally why the leading companies have been doing it for so long. It’s tough to know how to improve something unless you go into the field with it. Our commitment to IMAX with their new Keighley camera was to put it on this production and thoroughly road-test it in parallel with the other cameras.
Director Christopher Nolan with Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on set of The Odyssey. Universal Pictures For years, you relied on many of the same craftspeople until van Hoytema became the first major change. Did the success of that transition make it easier when it came time to bring on other new artisans such as composer Ludwig Göransson, editor Jennifer Lame and production designer Ruth De Jong?
I can’t think of a diplomatic way to answer that other than to say it’s always a balance between wanting to work with the same people that you have an ease of familiarity with and then also wanting new ideas and fresh perspectives. I’ve always tried to strike that balance in different ways at different times. I’ve been very fortunate with all the crew members I’ve worked with, starting with Wally Pfister as my director of photography for years. He then went off to direct himself, and that was when I started working with Hoyte. But it’s always a balance, and I think we had an excellent balance on this movie.
Robert Pattinson gave you a book of Oppenheimer’s speeches as a wrap gift on Tenet, and that became one of the first dominos to fall en route to the Oppenheimer experience. Did he put a lot of pressure on himself for your Odyssey wrap gift since the last one turned into a movie?
(Laughs.) No, there’s certainly nothing there. Did Rob hand me some horror novel by Stephen King that’ll make an excellent adaptation? Sadly, no, that is not the case. But I had a great time working with Rob again, and I will always be grateful to him for his wrap gift on Tenet.
You are re-releasing The Prestige next year to honor its 20th anniversary. Granted, four films is a hearty meal already, but is there a world where you and Christian Bale reunite someday?
Oh, of course. He’s one of the great actors of his generation, and I’ve had tremendous experiences with him. I’m thrilled that they’re going to re-release The Prestige because it’s one of his most underrated performances. I’m just really excited to bring it to fresh audiences. We’re actually going to do 70 millimeter blow-ups. Wally Pfister shot it anamorphically on 35 millimeter, and he did an incredible job. I screened a 35 mil print the other day to check it, and his photography is just extraordinary. Nathan Crowley’s production design is amazing as well. So it’s going to look absolutely beautiful blown up to 70 millimeter, and we’re going to start that process in the next few weeks.
Your loyalty to actors goes beyond the movie stars. Performers like Josh Stewart, Sean Avery and the late Larry Holden come to mind.
You’re just trying to cast the best people for the job, really. I’ve actually worked with the same casting director since Memento, John Papsidera, who’s one of the greats in his field. He’s introduced me to wonderful performers of all levels of stardom over the years. When you work under the difficult circumstances of these large-scale films, there’s a lot of pressure on smaller performers, particularly on a huge day where you’re taking up a lot of time with the stars and the mechanical things on set. These guys are always thrown in at the deep end, and they have to deliver the goods. So finding really great actors to come and do small parts is part of John’s genius.
Director Christopher Nolan on set of The Odyssey. Universal Pictures Despite the massive scale of your films, you are consistently under budget and ahead of schedule. I often cover blockbusters that are just the opposite.
(Laughs.)
What’s your secret considering it’s not a given across the industry?
Well, it’s not a given because all filmmaking teams approach things differently in terms of prioritization and their choices made on that basis. What I realized early on is that if I stayed on budget and on schedule, I got less interference. I didn’t give people a reason to panic. That’s when you find people breathing down your neck and questioning everything you’re doing. If you can stay on the right side of that line, that buys you a different type of creative freedom. In other words, all filmmaking is a creative compromise, and I prefer to make those compromises on my own terms. Part of those terms are being on budget and on schedule. Then those decisions are in your hands, but that does involve compromise. Not every filmmaker sees it that way, and that’s completely valid. There’s no right or wrong way to make a film. That’s the reality.
*** The Odyssey is now playing in movie theaters nationwide. A version of this story will appear in the July 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter.
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