Christopher Nolan has confirmed to Empire Magazine (via World of Reel) that Warner Bros. hired him to direct the sword-and-sandal epic Troy more than 20 years before Nolan began adapting Homer’s Odyssey. The events depicted in the former film are woven into the latter, which is why the Oscar winner told a magazine that his version of The Odyssey didn’t come out of nowhere, despite some fans being surprised that director Nolan wanted to work on Homer’s Greek epic.
“I was originally hired by Warner Bros. to direct ‘Troy.’ Wolfgang (Petersen) had developed it, so when the studio decided to stop making his superhero movie (‘Batman v Superman’), he wanted it back,” Nolan said. “At the end of the day, it was a world that I was very interested in exploring. So it was in the back of my mind for a very long time. Certain images, especially. How I wanted to treat the Trojans, things like that.”
Wolfgang Peterson was fresh off the box office hits Air Force One and The Perfect Storm when he pivoted from Troy to the world of superheroes with his own take on Warner Bros.’ Batman v Superman. Nolan was able to jump into the Hollywood studio space with Memento by directing for Warner Bros. ” 2002 thriller film “Insomnia.” The studio wanted to keep Nolan with “Troy.” In an ironic twist of fate, Nolan told Empire that Warner Bros. took back Troy to give to Peterson and then offered Nolan Batman Begins as a “consolation prize.”
Peterson’s “Troy” ultimately starred Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger. The film was released in the summer of 2004 to mixed reviews, but grossed nearly $500 million worldwide. Nolan’s Batman Begins was released the following summer and went on to become one of Warner Brothers’ films. The most critically acclaimed and financially successful film trilogy.
With the upcoming film The Odyssey, director Nolan is finally realizing his dream of bringing the Trojan War to the big screen. The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus. Tom Holland plays his son Telemachus. This vast ensemble also includes Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal.
Nolan also told Empire magazine why he chose to adapt Homer’s The Odyssey: “As a filmmaker, I’m looking for gaps in film culture, things that haven’t been done before.” “And what I saw was that all of the great mythological films that I grew up watching, like the Ray Harryhausen movies, I had never seen them done with the weight and authenticity that you could get in a low-budget, big-budget Hollywood IMAX production.”
“Odyssey” is scheduled to be released on July 17, 2026 by Universal Pictures.
