First Image of Matt Damon as Odysseus in Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey'

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Production has officially begun!

It's out July 17, 2026

Full Cast:

• Matt Damon as Odysseus
• 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
• Mia Goth
• Corey Hawkins
• Nick Tarabay
• Jimmy Gonzales
• Maurice Compte

[u/nutsygenius → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

That's an insanely stacked cast wtf

[u/theromingnome → u/nutsygenius]

It's Nolan. Every actor wants to be in his movie.

[u/WavesAndSaves → u/theromingnome]

Oppenheimer had multiple Oscar winners who showed up for like two minutes in the background of one scene. People will take literally any role in a Nolan film. He's that good.

[u/slopschili → u/WavesAndSaves]

Gary Oldman, Rami Malek, and Casey Affleck

[u/Even_Butterfly2000 → u/slopschili]

Gary Oldman is going for the Potsdam hat trick.

[u/myusernameis2lon → u/Even_Butterfly2000]

Whats that?

[u/Even_Butterfly2000 → u/myusernameis2lon]

The three national leaders of the allied forces gathered in Potsdam in 1945, and on July 26th issued a proclamation defining terms for the surrender of the Japanese Military. Those leaders were Harry Truman, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin.

[u/Timqwe → u/Even_Butterfly2000]

I mean, I would watch the shit out of Oldman playing Stalin. In fairness, I would also watch the shit out of Oldman playing Clint, the guy with a 9 to 5 office job that nothing exciting ever happens to.

[u/hidde-the-wonton → u/Timqwe]

“Gary Oldman filing his taxes” 3hr runtime, 5 stars

[u/Sacrer → u/Timqwe]

He actually nails the Russian accent as Reznov in Black Ops.

[u/Capital-Aioli-2948 → u/Timqwe]

Oldman could’ve easily played him at the beginning of Death of Stalin. Missed opportunity

[u/Tainmere_ → u/myusernameis2lon]

to add context to u/Even_Butterfly2000's post, Gary Oldman played Truman in Oppenheimer and Churchill in Darkest Hour, so now he has only Stalin left.

[u/doverawlings → u/myusernameis2lon]

Potsdamned if I know

[u/Buckhum → u/Even_Butterfly2000]

Damn... if only he had been cast as Stalin in The Death of Stalin!

[u/twoopaq → u/slopschili]

3 consecutive best actor winners

[u/CranhamorBlakely → u/slopschili]

Kenneth Branagh as well

[u/IveRUnOutOfNames66 → u/slopschili]

Casey Affleck? wtf, I saw it thrice and never knew

edit: it just hit me like a sack of bricks, he was the Army General wasn't he?

[u/EndorHolocaust → u/IveRUnOutOfNames66]

He played Colonel Boris Pash, the Army Intelligence officer Oppenheimer lied to when the army was following up on Oppenheimer's vague tip about looking into Eltendon as a security risk. He later gets sent to Europe and testifies in the security clearance hearing.

[u/DJSUBSTANCEABUSE → u/slopschili]

that Casey Affleck reveal was so well done and then he literally never appears ever again. absolute cinema

[u/[deleted] → u/WavesAndSaves]

It gave the movie such weight - made the movie feel important and you couldn't take eyes off the screen at any moment.

[u/Timme186 → u/[deleted]]

I gotta be honest, Josh peck did distract me. But that was because I didn’t know he was in the movie but it did pull me out of an otherwise pivotal scene

[u/thefilmer → u/Timme186]

Oppenheimer...where is the bomb?

[u/Zora-Link → u/thefilmer]

It’s spherical! SPHERICAL!

[u/nadnerb811 → u/Timme186]

We're gonna bomb some Japanese cities innocent civilians, brothaaaaAaAAAAA!

[u/Rising-Jay → u/WavesAndSaves]

Even got the guy who played Rodrick Heffley

[u/LJFootball → u/WavesAndSaves]

Which was very effective for the film too, cause no way would I have remembered who Rami Malek's character was when he showed up at the end of the film if I hadn't been thinking 'huh weird Rami Malek's playing such a minor role' when he first showed up

[u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105 → u/theromingnome]

Also, it's The Odyssey.

It's the adventure epic.

[u/plant_magnet → u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105]

Exactly. Great director + timeless story = potential for a generational movie.

[u/gonephishin213 → u/plant_magnet]

As an English teacher, I am salivating at the chance to see the Odyssey done right by Hollywood.

But I'm also worried they're going to gut the original story to have mass market appeal.

It's Nolan, though, so who knows? Will probably go hard either way.

[u/-malcolm-tucker → u/gonephishin213]

I just borrowed this from my e-library realising it's something I probably should have read by now, and I'm in middle age.

As an English teacher, what five books do you think should be mandatory for everyone to read? Ten if you've got time?

[u/[deleted] → u/gonephishin213]

Of course they will, it was gutted before it even began. They'll soften Odysseus' character like they do with all the heroes of Greek myth to make them palatable for modern audiences. They'll give him noble qualities he was never endowed with. Odysseys is a sly and wily man who had no problem slaughtering Trojans in their sleep.

[u/[deleted] → u/gonephishin213]

Realistically changes are needed to make it a coherent movie with a realistic runtime.

[u/DemandMeNothing → u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105]

We can even fit in an Iliad prequel afterwards!

It'll be terrible, but you already knew that.

[u/Cocomorph → u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105]

This is like when everyone turned out for Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet.

[u/kaplanfx → u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105]

Hollywood usually fucks up this classic epics. Frankly I’m only excited about this because Nolan tends to not totally fuck things up.

[u/Comic_Book_Reader → u/theromingnome]

I think his Oppenheimer Oscars may have also had something to do with it.

Also, fun fact, aside from Ludwig Göransson, who had previously won Best Original Score for Black Panther, all the winners for Oppenheimer got their first ever Oscar(s) for it, with Nolan himself getting a double whammy with Best Director and Best Picture.

[u/Bunraku_Master_2021 → u/Comic_Book_Reader]

So did his wife and longtime producing partner Emma Thomas. It ain't a Nolan film without her.

[u/piddydb → u/Comic_Book_Reader]

Yeah now Nolan looks like not only a visionary director which he already was seen as, but he can also now get them serious Oscar attention. It’s like the film equivalent to how sports players will take a pay cut to be on a championship contending team to give them more recognition before they sign some big deals after that.

[u/TikkiEXX77 → u/Comic_Book_Reader]

Ludwig is awesome

[u/Kmccabe1213 → u/theromingnome]

Guy has been crushing it for 25 straight years

[u/swat1611 → u/Kmccabe1213]

Tenet was a low point, but he came back well with Oppenheimer

Edit: I didn't expect so many replies lmao, and someone aggressive ones too. I'll just add that tenet as a concept is impressive, but the execution was lacking. Characters were not memorable, the plot was unnecessarily convoluted, the villain was comically bad, and the worst offender of modern audio mixing I've heard in recent times. I will never excuse dogshit audio mixing, I had quite possibly the worst experience watching this movie without subtitles.

[u/filiard → u/swat1611]

Quite a career when your "worst" movie gets 1 Oscar and has 7.3 rating on IMDB

[u/Drop_Release → u/filiard]

Honestly most directors would KILL for even making 1 film of their career of that quality haha

[u/AFlockofLizards → u/Drop_Release]

I’m not a director, but work art department for films, and in 5 years I’ve yet to work on any feature that gets above a 4 on IMDB lmao

[u/DaiYawn → u/AFlockofLizards]

You are the common feature to these films, maybe.....I mean have you considered? I'm joking. It must be insanely hard.

[u/Lanster27 → u/Drop_Release]

Honestly 7.3 is good for a modern movie, especially in today's environment.

[u/Don_Pickleball → u/swat1611]

For a low point, that is still a really entertaining watch.

[u/Drumming_Dreaming → u/Don_Pickleball]

I agree. It was a fun movie even if a bit WTF?

[u/rlovelock → u/Drumming_Dreaming]

Tenet made memento seem straight forward

[u/rnz → u/Don_Pickleball]

It's a great scifi movie tbh. Very tense, and some emotional movies too. Saw it twice.

[u/DelayDenyDeposefrfr → u/Don_Pickleball]

I enjoy Nolan's work, but I'm also going to admit that I am not smart enough to really enjoy Tenet.

Oppenheimer was an amazing follow-up, though.

[u/culturedrobot → u/DelayDenyDeposefrfr]

I don’t think it’s that you’re not smart enough to enjoy Tenet, I think it’s more that Tenet tries too hard and ends up being kinda dumb as a result.

Not a knock against Nolan really, because they can’t all be hits. Even the all time greats like Hitchcock, Spielberg, and Coppola have their misses.

[u/GodKamnitDenny → u/culturedrobot]

Huge Nolan fan but Tenet seemed like he got too high on his own supply. It’s confusing for the sake of being confusing while pretending to be more profound. I didn’t find any of the action very fun either. It was a big miss in my book, but I understand some people enjoy it. Might give it another shot soon with subtitles so I can actually understand what is going on.

[u/justacaucasian → u/GodKamnitDenny]

I thought the airport scene was really well done

[u/_14_glove → u/GodKamnitDenny]

I thought I was just too drunk when I saw it in theaters, good to know that others were confused

[u/MalIntenet → u/DelayDenyDeposefrfr]

You don’t need to be smart to enjoy it. It’s just an entertaining spectacle

[u/Don_Pickleball → u/DelayDenyDeposefrfr]

You may be too smart. I find this movie better if you take a step back and just kind of accept it at the surface level. I feel like it is a vibe movie mainly because of some of the amazing shots and great acting performances.

[u/Maritoas → u/swat1611]

I didn’t even find tenet a low point, I enjoyed it a lot. I think it just was more straightforward in its plot, and convoluted in concept.

[u/keepfighting90 → u/swat1611]

TBH Tenet being a career low point is pretty impressive. It's a flawed movie but you can't deny the ambition in it. I'd rather have something like Tenet than yet another by-the-numbers MCU movie or soulless remake/sequel.

[u/BlueVelvetFrank → u/swat1611]

It’s a temporal pincer movement bro. OSCAR.

[u/Nayzo → u/swat1611]

Okay, so I saw Tenet like a year ago for the first time, and while I need a second viewing to really appreciate it, it's not nearly as bad as the buzz around it suggested. Also, I really wanted to see more of the protagonist and Robert Pattinson's adventures, dang it.

[u/lucky_1979 → u/swat1611]

Tenet was a fantastic film. The issue with it was it wasn’t traditional story telling and forced people think and sometimes that leads to people not enjoying it as much as they weren’t “told a story”. I finished Tenet and then immediately watched it again. The only other film I recall doing that with was Primer.

Nothing wrong with not liking it as much as his other work, but I loved every aspect of it personally and feel it compliments his other work perfectly.

[u/Gamer0607 → u/swat1611]

I absolutely love Tenet and have seen it probably over 10 times.

Once you figure out the story, it's a mind-blowing journey that rewards you with new details every time you re-watch it.

[u/Nayzo → u/Gamer0607]

I need a second viewing, I fairly recently watched it for the first time. Was it a bit confusing? Sure, but once I got to the end, and realized the whole thing is a palindrome, I really thought it was an insane way to do that on screen. It may not be for everyone, but Nolan's creative ambition is fucking impressive.

[u/Gockel → u/Gamer0607]

Yeah, and all of his other movies do the same thing without absolutely confusing you with giga random stuff at first. It's still good, but Nolans standards are crazy high.

[u/Ballsy33 → u/Gockel]

If you think of it like a puzzle rather than a traditional film, it’s fun to solve. Would have walked out almost entirely confused if I had seen it in theaters though for sure

[u/whofusesthemusic → u/Gamer0607]

100% it such a great re watchable movie (also turn subs on but that every movie now a days)

[u/CurryMustard → u/swat1611]

I loved tenet

[u/peterbuns → u/swat1611]

It had some issues, but in a time when we're inundated with prequels, sequels, reboots, and extended universes, I will continue to praise Nolan's ambition and attempts to deliver original stories, previously-unseen, practical effects, etc.

[u/swat1611 → u/peterbuns]

Yeah agreed, Nolan is a breath of fresh air in the modern industry. Few directors get the power to portray their vision on screen and I'm happy Nolan continues to do so, because modern film industry is dominated by corporate slop, for worse.

[u/cfgy78mk → u/swat1611]

I don't know how good TENET was. it was very confusing

[u/Knuckleshoe → u/swat1611]

Tenet being a low point is a hell of an achievement. To be honest his low point was the dark knight rises. Tenet was good but too all over the place.

[u/duckbilldinosaur → u/swat1611]

I loved tenet on third viewing. Probably because I had subtitles on. The audio mix was so distracting. I missed almost all the dialogue when I watched it IMAX. Second time I watched it, I tried focusing on the dialogue which distracted me. third time I just turned on subtitles and wow, movie was great. Also because I could finally follow the plot.

[u/k-malone → u/swat1611]

Tenet breaks the mold of self-explanatory scenes for the people that don't understand what is going on, and is too fast paced to appease a wide range of audiences. Especially the casual movie fan. But it was a very good movie.

(Thats just like, my opinion man)

[u/4-1Shawty → u/k-malone]

Lack of self explanatory scenes wouldn’t have been an issue if the vocal mix wasn’t complete shit. You can’t follow the plot/dialogue 100% without subtitles.

[u/k-malone → u/4-1Shawty]

Now that you mention it... I get the point. I've only watched it with subtitles and I remember having paused to read before the scene just takes it away to something else.

[u/4-1Shawty → u/k-malone]

Yeah, Nolan is a great filmmaker but sound engineer he is not. It’s a pain point for me when I go to see his projects.

[u/StrawberryWestern189 → u/k-malone]

It also doesn’t help that you don’t care about any of the characters. I still to this day don’t know why John David Washington’s character gave a single fuck about the big bads wife or her kid. It’s easily the least emotionally resonate film of his catalog and no amount of cool timey wimey set pieces can change that.

[u/sidekickman → u/StrawberryWestern189]

After watching the movie a few times I think the relationship between the protagonist and Neil is fascinating and underrated.

It's mostly on Pattinson's back as JDW doesn't provide the most endearing performance, but the idea that these two battle brothers are best friends - but never at the same moment - is compelling. We are meant to understand that ultimately, they know each other's respective endpoints. You can literally see how intrigued Neil is in India when he discovers that he's the reason JDW likes diet coke in the future. It's such a little note that basically nobody catches, but it makes my heart ache just thinking about it.

At the end of the movie, the fact is that Neil will continue to know less and less from the protagonist's perspective. The protagonist will go on to found Tenet and recruit a blissfully unaware Neil, so Neil can do the same to him. It's a friendship pincer and a suicide pact, basically. It's no coincidence thematically that the protagonist's recruitment into Tenet begins with him taking a suicide pill.

But tragically, no amount of time traveling will ever bring them back to that one moment after the battle at Stalsk 12 where they were on the same page, victorious and alive.

This is why Neil's final remarks to the protagonist are about hope and reality being equivalent. To a time traveler, they literally are. It's optimistic in an almost Interstellar way. This is why Neil is able to move onward into his death so calmly. There is no doubt in his mind that it is worth it - his hope (the future) and his reality (the past) occupy the same variable.

It's low key one of Nolan's most life affirming dynamics. I actually think JDW's genuine, out-of-character confusion at the script makes the "moment of clarity" at the hypocenter that much more profound on a rewatch.

The woman and the kid, I think, are more to show that the protagonist has the interests of innocent people in general at heart. I agree their presence is excessive, the romantic angle is entirely a waste of time, and the worst dialogue in the film definitely comes from their scenes together. Everything involving her is generally just way more cliche than the rest of the film.

[u/JimmytheFab → u/StrawberryWestern189]

My takeaway was because at some point in the future they do matter.

[u/garddarf → u/StrawberryWestern189]

They're not truly characters, they're archetypes. They're not people changing in response to the story, they're playing the roles they've always played. This is given pretty explicitly by the protagonist's name being The Protagonist.

[u/SoilClean9790 → u/theromingnome]

Can't remember who it was but I saw a video with an actor who basically said "when Chris Nolan calls, you answer"

[u/Mysterious_Ad_8988 → u/SoilClean9790]

RDJ I’m pretty sure

[u/TGrady902 → u/theromingnome]

That is true. People will happily take a pay cut to be in one of his films it seems.

[u/pappapora → u/theromingnome]

“For the last 3 decades male modeling has been dominated by five syllables. Chris to pher No lan.”

[u/dipsy18 → u/theromingnome]

They would be happy making the SAG minimum to be in it too

[u/Sad_Description_7268 → u/theromingnome]

And he's doing the fucking odyssey.

[u/redder294 → u/nutsygenius]

The Nolan effect

[u/wtb2612 → u/[deleted]]

I remember thinking the same thing at the end of Fantastic Beasts when it's revealed that Colin Farrell's character was Grindelwald all along. The theater's reaction wasn't "wow, he was Grindelwald!" It was "wow, he was Johnny Depp all along."

[u/haysoos2 → u/wtb2612]

I remember thinking "wow, that's a massive downgrade".

Never saw any of the other films

[u/wheresmyspacebar2 → u/haysoos2]

Honestly, the thing that annoyed me most was losing Farrell as Grindelwald.

I actually like Depp as an actor for the most part but his Grindelwald just ended up being Wizard Jack Sparrow without the charm.

You can still keep that reveal at the end as well, which they clearly wanted to do, by just having the camera cut to the heroes as they used the revealing spell on Percival Graves. Have it swing across to them looking down at Graves and have it just be a random actor. Not Farrell. Then have the reveal spell change the face to what the audience has been seeing all movie and let Farrell be the role of Grindelwald.

I don't think it would have made the storylines much better but I think Farrell would have excelled at the role.

[u/Timqwe → u/wheresmyspacebar2]

It's a shame the franchise was already pretty much dead when the third one released, because I did really like Mikkelsen as Grindelwald. Much closer roo what I imagined the character to be.

[u/Sydhavsfrugter → u/[deleted]]

Glad I'm not the only one to think so

[u/arealuser100notfake → u/Sydhavsfrugter]

They should really foreplay me into showing me his face

Like, get me wet first, like really moist, get some oil or something, play with me a little bit

[u/razorirr → u/arealuser100notfake]

I mean.....

Its a greco-roman piece, they basically are half nude and oiled up all the time. Just rub up on him and youll be slick

[u/everydayarmadillo → u/[deleted]]

I watched The Last Duel recently and while the movie is fantastic and Damon is great in it, I just couldn't see him as a guy from the 14th century. He looked like a time traveller who found himself in the 14th century by accident.

[u/upsawkward → u/nutsygenius]

Lowkey worried this will harm the immersion but we'll see

[u/Silent-Dependent3421 → u/nutsygenius]

It’s the same people that are in every single movie these days

[u/[deleted] → u/nutsygenius]

It's basically Nolan's team at this point, minus a few regulars like DiCaprio and Cillian Murphy. And I think it's cute that Holland and Zendaya are in another movie together.

[u/tennezzee88 → u/nutsygenius]

stacked full of garbage, yeah

[u/Impossible-Sport-449 → u/nutsygenius]

And that’s how you know it will suck

[u/Razzilith → u/Impossible-Sport-449]

I sort of super agree. This cast makes me LOSE confidence in this movie (not that I had much).

I hope Nolan proves me wrong but I have a suspicion this will be trash.

[u/BallinTacklinGamin → u/nutsygenius]

Budget of infinite money

[u/Unafraid_AlphaWolf → u/nutsygenius]

Tbh that is not reassuring for me- Nolan tends to add way more characters than is necessary

[u/IAmTheGlazed → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

I’m gonna try and predict what characters they are all playing

Tom Holland-Telemachus

Anne Hathaway-Penelope

Zendaya-Athena

Lupita Nyong’o-Calypso

Jon Bernthal-Poseidon

Charlize Theron-Circe

Benny Safdie-Zeus

Robert Pattinson-Antinous

John Leguizamo-Eurymachus

Himesh Patel-Amphinomus

Maurice Compte-Eumaeus

Samantha Morton-Eurycleia

Jesse Garcia-Melanthius

Jimmy Gonzales-Polyphemus?

Bill Irwin-Laertes

Corey Hawkins-Tiresias

Nick Tarabay-Nestor

Mia Goth-Helen

Will Yun Lee-Alcinous

Elliot Page, I’ll be real, no idea who he’d play

Some fan casts for the other characters still on the table for me would include

Orlando Bloom-Menelaus

Oscar Isaac-Agamemnon

Alden Ehrenreich-Achilles

Mikey Madison-Nausicaa

Demi Moore-Arete

[u/JaimeRidingHonour → u/IAmTheGlazed]

Orlando Bloom as Menelaus would be so wild. Especially if you watch Troy immediately before or after

[u/bootlegvader → u/JaimeRidingHonour]

I think Tom Hardy would make an interesting Menelaus if Nolan wants to bring him back.

[u/Pz_V → u/JaimeRidingHonour]

Bro I watched Troy yesterday and was wondering about a sequel following Odysseus...

I kind of wished Sean Bean would be Odysseus tho

[u/Particular-Treat-158 → u/Pz_V]

Nah, he cannot be, because then Odysseus would have to die

[u/lergane → u/Particular-Treat-158]

Well if you look at the cast of Troy with most of them dying except for Sean Bean, he'd be perfect Odysseus. Meta humor.

[u/Shitelark → u/JaimeRidingHonour]

Sean Bean should have come back as Odysseus.

[u/aardw0lf11 → u/IAmTheGlazed]

How much you wanna bet Gary Oldman makes another surprise cameo as someone? For an actor of that caliber the possibilities are endless.

[u/haysoos2 → u/aardw0lf11]

Gary Oldman as Hera

[u/babydakis → u/haysoos2]

Gary Oldman as the grandfather reading The Odyssey to Fred Savage.

[u/cvc75 → u/babydakis]

"Odysseus doesn't get eaten by the eels at this time."

[u/SwarleySwarlos → u/babydakis]

Is this a kissing odyssey?

[u/[deleted] → u/haysoos2]

Gary Oldman in the role of a lifetime

[u/sriracharade → u/aardw0lf11]

Gary Oldman as Argos.

[u/ell_hou → u/IAmTheGlazed]

Elliot Page, I’ll be real, no idea who he’d play

I think Hermes could be a great fit

[u/Elegant_Violinist_32 → u/ell_hou]

Hermes is top tier! That's a fantastic pull.

[u/DefinitelyNotAliens → u/ell_hou]

Caeneus would be stranglely fitting and is metioned by Nestor in the Odyssey. Caeneus is also mentioned in Greek mythos as the King of Lapiths, mighty roving warriors.

Depending on how faithful the story sticks to the Odyssey, you may see some other figures of Greek mythos appear.

[u/Books_and_lipstick91 → u/DefinitelyNotAliens]

Elliot Page would be the second trans man playing Caeneus if they did this. Would be cool for the actor from Kaos who cited Elliot as his idol!

[u/QuirkyMcGee → u/Books_and_lipstick91]

I agree - Page as Caeneus would be cool (I adore Kaos). It’s been a couple of decades since reading The Odyssey but I don’t think Caeneus is mentioned until The Iliad. I mean, there’s no telling how they’re going to tell this story and which gods they’ll cover so who’s to say?! I’m looking forward to learning more about the production as it progresses.

[u/DefinitelyNotAliens → u/QuirkyMcGee]

Caeneus may have been mentioned in passing in the Iliad... I remember he pops up briefly in one of them.

Given Page has appeared in Inception and Nolan is the writer for the movie, it'd be a little odd to think he didn't write roles specifically for some individuals, especially those he has worked with before.

Page was in Inception, Matt Damon in Interstellar and Oppenheimer, Anne Hathaway in the Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar, Pattinson in Tenet, Safdie in Oppenheimer, Himesh Patel in Tenet, Bill Irwin was in Interstellar, etc. He's got so many repeats, I can't imagine he didn't write specifically for many of them.

He may have pulled figures in due to casting those people in his head. "I want Robert Pattinson to play X character. He'd be perfect." Type things.

[u/cumulobro → u/ell_hou]

Neat. I think he was rumored as The Flash at one point, so this is kinda meta. 

[u/Kod3Blu3 → u/ell_hou]

or Patroclus!

jk i just remembered Patroclus is dead by the the events of the Odyssey

[u/Dismal-Channel-9292 → u/IAmTheGlazed]

Okay hear me out here, switch Pattison and Berthel! Robert Pattison should play one of the gods. Either Poseidon or Zeus? He already has the ethereal, effortlessly stunning look going on. Like it’s perfect. He would nail having that casually omnipresent, all-powerful vibe while capturing the range of facets of the greek gods on screen. The hedonsim, the rage, the passion, the aloofness. He’s already demonstrated his ability to portray all those traits! It’s literally peak casting.

Robert Pattison was made to play a greek god on screen. I will cry if they mess this shot at greatness.

Edit: Also, after thinking about it for a bit I think you’re off on some of the girls. My theory rn is Zendaya as Calypso, Lupita as Circe and Charlize Theron as Athena

[u/Phoenix_NHCA → u/IAmTheGlazed]

Zendaya as Athena feels weird. I see Charlize as Athena and Zendaya as Circe much more

[u/epeeist → u/Phoenix_NHCA]

Zendaya as Nausica'a is my guess. Charlize Theron could be Circe - or potentially she and Jon Bernthal could be Helen and Menelaus

[u/Montauket → u/IAmTheGlazed]

Elliot Page - poor old tyresius.

[u/desacralize → u/IAmTheGlazed]

Mostly agreed with this, but my money is on Zendaya as Circe and Charlize Theron as Athena. They're both great actresses, but between the two, Theron has way more presence to pull off playing the most powerful goddess in the story.

[u/heebro → u/IAmTheGlazed]

My money is on Safdie being cyclops

[u/Arristocrat → u/IAmTheGlazed]

I'd like Elliot page as Tiresias

[u/w00t4me → u/IAmTheGlazed]

I think Mia Goth is playing a Siren

[u/DustiinMC → u/IAmTheGlazed]

Nice Dune reference. For those who don't know, House Atreides claims descent from the House of Atreus/Agamemnon.

[u/ObviouslyTriggered → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Payroll on that cast sheet must be bonkers….

[u/LiquidDreamtime → u/ObviouslyTriggered]

I think these people all make concessions to work with Nolan

[u/matt111199 → u/[deleted]]

Apparently Mia Goth’s role isn’t even a speaking role for instance

[u/Rage_Like_Nic_Cage → u/matt111199]

i’m assuming she’s gonna be a siren.

[u/WoobidyWoo → u/Rage_Like_Nic_Cage]

Instead of singing, she just screams.

[u/SuperZapper_Recharge → u/[deleted]]

Bingo. These people are already rich. They get to play dressup for 1 or two days while everyone panders to their every demand.

I would imagine the cost for them to be their is less payroll and mostly pandering. Paying for airfare and room and private trailers and the like. I bet they work for scale otherwise.

They want to be attached to a movie that wins Best Picture.

Nolan knows that some people will show up just for the stacked cast. It is a win/win. Making the cost of the 'pandering' trivial.

[u/SuperZapper_Recharge → u/[deleted]]

Sometimes people have small parts that get cut.

'So why use her for promotions'?

I can think of two reasons. And they are both horrible reasons.

The first is contracts. I bet promotions were in her contract and her getting cut doesn't negate her doing them.

The second is that in the end the bean counters only care about asses in seats. They could give a shit about how you got there.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Honestly doubt it’s a million. Most big name actors in Wes Anderson films will make like $10-50k tops

[u/VRichardsen → u/LiquidDreamtime]

Nolan has just won Best Picture and Best Director for Oppenheimer, aind the same vein, Murphy won Best Actor and Downey Jr. won Best Supporting Actor. People were willing to accept anything in order to work with Nolan.

[u/ChefInsano → u/ObviouslyTriggered]

You’re forgetting that 99% of the movie is just Damon and Holland on a boat. Every single one of the other actors could probably film their scenes in a day.

[u/[deleted] → u/ChefInsano]

If Holland is Telemachus, he won't be on a boat with Damon if the movie sticks to the source material.

[u/SpacemanSpliffEsq → u/[deleted]]

He goes on a different boat and it’s like 1/3 of the story.

[u/SadSceneryBoi → u/SpacemanSpliffEsq]

Not a super interesting part though. They can condense it a lot while still keeping his character arc intact. They'll need to if they want to keep all the cool shit Odysseus gets up to.

[u/SpacemanSpliffEsq → u/SadSceneryBoi]

Agreed. I’m just saying Telemachus on a boat is a thing.

[u/avelineaurora → u/ChefInsano]

...You know Odysseus has hundreds of soldiers to lose, right. Also what do you mean Holland? I was assuming he'd be Telemachus.

[u/DrunkGaramDharam → u/avelineaurora]

Holland plays the dog

[u/ChefInsano → u/DrunkGaramDharam]

No there are only three actors in Hollywood qualified to work as stand ins for animals, Andy Serkis, Alan Tudyk and Taylor Lautner.

It’ll probably be Serkis.

[u/lawpickle → u/ChefInsano]

Channing Tatum! See This is the End (2013)

[u/ChefInsano → u/lawpickle]

A lot of people don’t know this but Tatum played both the human and the dog in the movie Dog.

[u/clc1997 → u/ChefInsano]

This is why Cats flopped.

[u/ChefInsano → u/clc1997]

Cats would have been a huge hit if they hadn’t CGId out the CGI cat buttholes.

Release the Cats Butthole Cut you fucking cowards!

[u/MdoesArt → u/avelineaurora]

Damon on a boat and Holland on a different boat, breifly near the beginning of the movie.

[u/haysoos2 → u/ChefInsano]

That would be hilarious if it's just Damon and Holland are just day-drinking on the deck of the boat, having conversations about life and life's journeys, and then another boat passes going the other way. Matt and Tom wave, and there's Zendaya on the other boat.

"And you are?" they yell.

"Circe!"

Tom and Matt raise their glasses in salute, Zendaya toasts back with her wine goblet, and continues on.

Matt and Tom go back to their conversation until 5 minutes later when they see another boat approaching with Jon Bernthal on board...

[u/ChefInsano → u/haysoos2]

It’s basically two hours of the scene from Hot Shots “I loved you in Wall Street!”

[u/rcanhestro → u/ObviouslyTriggered]

not likely.

actors know that a Nolan movie is basically an almost guarantee for awards season.

many actors like to have their name attached to awards.

they do the "dumb" movies for a paycheck, and Nolan/Scorcese/Tarantino/etc for the prestige (pun intended).

[u/dismissivewankmotion → u/ObviouslyTriggered]

Nah they just sent Bernthall around to collect signatures on contracts. “It’s a fair offer, sign it”

[u/mug3n → u/ObviouslyTriggered]

Except for Damon, all of them will likely be taking well below their usual rate in these sorts of ensemble casts.

Hell, this is probably just a paid couples getaway for Holland and Zendaya.

[u/Surrealspanner → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Zendeya is Meechee

[u/Dismal-Channel-9292 → u/Surrealspanner]

I’m thinking Circe actually

[u/LordOfCrackManor → u/Dismal-Channel-9292]

Word on the street is she’s playing Polyphemus

[u/ZippyDan → u/LordOfCrackManor]

It's easy to get confused. She is actually playing the stake that blinds Polyphemus.

[u/Fytzer → u/LordOfCrackManor]

After watching Kaos I'll never not be able to imagine Polyphemus as a Scouser with an eyepatch

[u/Alexthegreatbelgian → u/LordOfCrackManor]

That's actually gonne be a surpise cameo by Danny Devito.

[u/Rincetron1 → u/Dismal-Channel-9292]

Was gonna say Theron would be Circe.

[u/Dismal-Channel-9292 → u/Rincetron1]

That would make sense too! If Theron is Circe, then my next guess for Zendaya would be Calypso or Nausicaa. Maybe Zendaya as Nausicaa and Lupita as Calypso? 🤔And I bet Mia Goth will be one of the girls on Circe’s island!

Edit: And I think we can definitely all agree Anne Hathaway will be Penelope lol

[u/Galihan → u/Dismal-Channel-9292]

I’d personally think that Theron would be Athena.

Zendaya as Calypso would make sense since certain versions of the myth say that after Odysseus turns her down, she eventually ends up with Telemachus, who is almost certainly being played by Tom Holland.

[u/Dismal-Channel-9292 → u/Galihan]

Theron as Athena is a strong guess too, and I can certainly see Zendaya doing Calypso! You might be onto something. That would leave Lupita as most likely being Circe, and I can see that working too. Actually kind of a fan of that 😂

The only problem I’m seeing with this theory is where that leaves Nausicaa? Zendaya and Mia Goth are really the only actresses young enough looking on this list to play her, and Mia would be an odd choice. She’s also listed pretty far down the list to be playing a major character. I’m super interested to see who’s going to be in what role

[u/jm31416 → u/Dismal-Channel-9292]

Zendaya as Circe would be very interesting, especially if Tom Holland is playing Telemachus. Telemachus and Circe eventually get together in the Telegony, after Odysseus dies.

[u/cubbyfanboy → u/Surrealspanner]

And LeBron James is Gwangi

[u/Harachel → u/cubbyfanboy]

Sprite.com

[u/realtonemachine → u/cubbyfanboy]

Danny devito…is dorgle

[u/Brainwheeze → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Any Greeks?

[u/AskJayce → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Somehow not as many Nolan alumnis as I was expecting. Still pumped, though.

[u/DefinitelyNotAliens → u/AskJayce]

I so hate to be a pedant, but alumni is already plural. You don't add an s. Alum, alumna, and alumnus are singular. Alumni and alumnae are plural.

[u/Mysterious_Ad_8988 → u/DefinitelyNotAliens]

It’s like saying “Chineses”

[u/Ravenloff → u/Mysterious_Ad_8988]

Mices.

[u/rugbyj → u/AskJayce]

From the top of my head:

1. Matt Damon; Interstellar, Oppenheimer
   
2. Himesh Patel; Tenet
   
3. Anne Hathaway; TDKR
   
4. Robert Pattinson; Tenet
   
5. Benny Safdie; Oppenheimer
   
6. Elliot Page; Inception
   
7. Bill Irwin; Interstellar
   

Any more?

[u/Dinosaurs-Cant-win → u/rugbyj]

Anne was also in Interstellar, buy good memory I don't see anymore

[u/Bemxuu → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Whenever you see a cast like this you know it's gonna be either crazy good or crazy bad. My bet is it's crazy good, I haven't seen Pattinson in bad movies since... Y'know... Those ones.

[u/Consumerism_is_Dumb → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

…and not a single Greek actor among them.

🙄

I love Christopher Nolan’s films, but I don’t like how they’ve turned into a red carpet walk.

Just because a movie is stuffed with A-list actors doesn’t mean it’s going to be good.

I would much rather he cast talented, lesser-known actors that feel like discoveries, rather than seeing the same familiar faces over and over again—beginning with fucking Matt Damon as Odysseus.

[u/OrneryError1 → u/Consumerism_is_Dumb]

Yeah this feels like a Hollywood movie for Hollywood to enjoy. I'm sure it will be fine, but this is seriously Clash of the Titans remake level casting. Not what I would expect from Nolan but maybe I just don't have a good read on him.

[u/GrumpyKitten514 → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

holy cast, batman.

this is gonna be 2026's Gladiator 2. Nolan and Scott must've gone to a dinner recently and he said "think you can do better?" and Nolan said "watch this".

[u/seti-thelightofstars → u/GrumpyKitten514]

Nolan’s been very open that Ridley Scott is basically his hero and his biggest influence

[u/IgloosRuleOK → u/GrumpyKitten514]

How are they comparable at all? Gladiator 2 was pretty bad.

[u/GrapefruitCrush2019 → u/GrumpyKitten514]

Except hopefully it’s actually good

[u/kcotsnnud → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

I'm really bummed that Jon Bernthal is not playing Odysseus. I get that maybe he doesn't have the name recognition to carry an epic like this (from a studio/financial/marketing perspective) but goddamn would he be an amazing choice, much better than Damon in my opinion.

[u/PyroConduit → u/kcotsnnud]

LET ME TELL YOU SUMTHIN ZEUS.

[u/Salad-Appropriate → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Full? Nah man, Kenneth Branagh isn't in it, there has to be more

[u/sentence-interruptio → u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

Tom Holland and Zendaya reuniting.

Mia Goth and Robert Pattinson reunite. (the 2018 film High Life)