A six-minute prologue for next year's Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey will air in select IMAX theaters this weekend, and again next week before screenings of Avatar: Fire and Ash.
To be in with a chance to watch this special presentation, you'll need to be sitting down in an IMAX theater this Friday, December 12, for 70mm screenings of Ryan Coogler's Sinners or the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring One Battle After Another.
From next weekend, the prologue will also air ahead of IMAX screenings for Disney's new Avatar threequel.
As reported by Variety, Nolan has chosen to release this prologue now during the busy holiday season while attention is high, and in IMAX 70mm as it is his preferred format. The Odyssey was previously announced as being the first blockbuster to be fully shot using IMAX cameras.
Due for launch on July 17, 2026, The Odyssey features an all-star cast including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Mia Goth, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal.
Damon recently recalled an incident during filming where Holland personally called the head of Sony Pictures to arrange for one of the company's pristine 70mm prints of the classic film Lawrence of Arabia to be shown to The Odyssey's cast. "Tom Holland, because he’s Spider-Man and he’s everybody’s favourite at that studio, called [Sony Pictures boss Tom] Rothman and he arranged for us to screen it on a Sunday, the full four hours," Damon said.
The Odyssey is Nolan's 13th film, after previously helming Following, Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, Oppenheimer, and The Dark Knight Trilogy. Such is the anticipation for the movie, that a limited number of The Odyssey tickets went on sale during the summer — a year in advance of the film opening.
While Nolan has long been celebrated as one of the great directors of modern cinema, The Odyssey is expected to perform particularly strongly following the breakout success of Oppenheimer, the Cillian Murphy-led biopic that fuelled one half of the Barbenheimer phenomenon, earned a staggering $975 million during its theatrical run, and walked away with Best Picture at the Oscars.
The Odyssey will adapt the epic Greek story of the same name, which follows heroic king Ithaca (Damon) on his way home from the Trojan War (which famously ended with Troy conquered after the use of the wooden horse). The tale is based on myth rather than historical fact, so expect witches, Sirens, and the Cyclops to appear — as soon as this weekend.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
source https://www.ign.com/articles/christopher-nolans-the-odyssey-gets-6-minute-imax-prologue-in-theaters-this-weekend-and-next-week-before-avatar-fire-and-ash