Christopher Nolan has revealed that he did not abandon his upcoming film ‘The Odyssey’ suddenly; The seeds are more than 20 years old. In an interview with Empire Magazine, Nolan said that long before Warner Bros. originally brought him on board for Troy, he envisioned building a blockbuster career based around Gotham City. The studio later withdrew the film, and that shuffle eventually led them to Batman Begins.
How Nolan landed ‘Troy’, then watched it slip away
Nolan told Empire When Wolfgang Petersen stepped away from Troy for a period of time, the studio hired him. “I was originally hired by Warner Bros. to direct ‘Troy.’ Wolfgang Petersen developed it, and so when the studio decided not to pursue his superhero film ‘Batman v Superman,’ he wanted it back,” he said.
Nolan remembers feeling attracted to the material from day one. He added, “At the end of the day, it was a world I was very interested in seeing… especially some of the images. How I wanted to handle the Trojan Horse, things like that.”
That window closed rapidly. Peterson, after scoring hits like ‘Air Force One’ and ‘The Perfect Storm’, returned to the project and reclaimed it. Warner Bros. moved Nolan to what the studio considered less risky at the time – Batman Begins. He called it a “consolation prize”. That “consolation” turned into three films that reshaped the superhero genre.
What happened when ‘Troy’ finally hit theaters?
Peterson’s version came out in 2004 with an A-list cast – Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger. Critics didn’t really buy into it, but audiences showed it.
According to Variety, the film grossed approximately $500 million worldwide. A year later, Batman Begins landed and reset Warner Bros.’s entire superhero strategy, with Nolan’s trilogy becoming one of the studio’s most successful runs.
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Nolan returns to Homer with ‘The Odyssey’
Now he is returning to the world he once almost entered. The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as Telemachus, and an ensemble cast that includes Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and Jon Bernthal.
Nolan also told Empire what attracted him to this time around. “As a filmmaker, you’re looking for gaps in cinematic culture… I’ve never seen it with the kind of weight and credibility that an A-budget and a big Hollywood, IMAX production can do,” he said.
Universal released The Odyssey on July 17, 2026.
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questions to ask
Why did Christopher Nolan lose Troy?
Warner Bros. gave the film back to Wolfgang Petersen after he returned to the project.
What did Nolan get in return?
The studio offered him Batman Begins, which he called a “consolation prize”.
Why did Nolan want to adapt “The Odyssey”?
He said that he has not seen mythological epics made with IMAX level weight and scale.