Mumbai is in for a big movie moment this July. Christopher Nolan is bringing his new film, The Odyssey, to the city for its global rollout — and the movie’s leading cast, Matt Damon, Tom Holland and producer Emma Thomas will join him. It’s the first time a Nolan film will have an official premiere in India. Mumbai joins London, Paris and New York as one of the key stops, with the India premiere expected at PVR Icon IMAX, Phoenix Palladium. The worldwide release date is July 17.
The Odyssey is already creating buzz for its scale and ambition. Nolan adapted Homer’s classic story about Odysseus’s long journey home after the fall of Troy. The cast mixes big names with surprising choices: Matt Damon plays Odysseus, Anne Hathaway is Penelope, Tom Holland plays their son Telemachus, Zendaya is Athena, and other stars include Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o and Jon Bernthal. Even Travis Scott shows up as an ancient bard. The movie is produced by Nolan and Emma Thomas’s Syncopy.
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More About Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey
What makes this film feel special is Nolan’s old-school, hands-on approach—only much bigger. He prefers real sets and practical effects over green screens, and here that philosophy gets pushed to the limit. The Odyssey was filmed in several countries and is the first feature shot entirely on new IMAX 70mm cameras, designed to make IMAX screenings feel even more immersive.
The film’s reported $250 million budget isn’t just for spectacle; it supports the way Nolan works. Instead of asking actors to act against space, the crew built huge, textured environments. The Trojan Horse, for example, was a real hollow structure with actors inside so scenes feel physically real. Mythical creatures were created with prosthetics, makeup, and animatronics rather than relying only on CGI, giving the close-up shots more texture and grit.
They even took risks at sea. To capture authentic ship scenes, the production used the Draken, a large modern Viking-style ship, and shot on open water near Greece and Italy. That meant long, weather-dependent shoots and lots of footage—reports say more than two million feet of film were shot—so Nolan could pick the best natural moments: the right wave, the right light, the right wind.
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CGI was used, but sparingly and smartly. Visual effects cleaned and enhanced what was already filmed—removing wires, refining animatronics and tidying scenes—rather than building them from scratch. The idea was simple: build it for real, then enhance it where needed.
Early signs show strong interest. The BFI IMAX in the U.K. sold 28,000 tickets in its first 24 hours for The Odyssey, breaking that venue’s record and pulling in roughly £750,000. In India, IMAX bookings are already open across cities, suggesting people here are keen to watch it on the biggest screens.
Beyond the film itself, Christopher Nolan bringing his premiere to Mumbai matters. It signals how important Indian audiences are becoming for global cinema. For Mumbai—the country’s entertainment hub—hosting this premiere is a big deal and a sign that Hollywood sees India as a place for major events, not just box-office returns.
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With July 17 around the corner, expectations are high. The Odyssey isn’t just another blockbuster; Nolan attempts to translate myth into something physically real and felt on a giant IMAX screen. If the early buzz and bookings are anything to go by, Indian audiences may soon see a film that aims to make an ancient story feel immediate, messy and unforgettable. Would you like this trimmed further for social posts or a press release?