WASHINGTON: Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ will shoot entirely on Imax film cameras, a first for a commercial feature.
Nolan likes the big-screen format. However, filming a complete feature film on the famously big, loud and unwieldy Imax film cameras (unlike the lighter, quieter digital Imax cameras, used in recent films such as ‘Thunderbolts’ and the upcoming ‘Superman’) was unworkable, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
While Nolan has earlier worked on historical and science fiction films like ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Inception’ and ‘Interstellar’, this project signals a new direction. ‘The Odyssey’ is rooted in ancient mythology, following the journey of Odysseus as he faces gods, monsters, and challenges while trying to return home after the Trojan War.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Universal in a statement shared, “Christopher Nolan’s next film ‘The Odyssey’ is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand-new IMAX film technology”. This also marks the first time Homer’s foundational tale will be brought to Imax screens.
Number of minutes featuring IMAX 70mm scenes in Christopher Nolan’s films.
THE ODYSSEY will be the first film in cinema history to be shot entirely in IMAX 70mm, and therefore will have no aspect ratio changes. pic.twitter.com/FvIlYZ8BBH
— Christopher Nolan Art & Updates (@NolanAnalyst) May 15, 2025
After the success of ‘Oppenheimer’, which earned more than $190 million on Imax screens, some 20 per cent of its total gross, Nolan challenged the company to improve its cameras, to make them lighter and quieter, and to solve issues with scanning and processing the cameras’ 70 mm film stock, to allow him to easily watch dailies as he shot.
“Chris called me up and said ‘If you can figure out how to solve the problems, will make [Odyssey] 100 percent in Imax’. And that’s what we’re doing”, said Imax CEO Rich Gelfond, speaking at the company’s annual press lunch in Cannes. “He forced us to rethink that side of our business, our film recorders, our film cameras”, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
The new film cameras are reserved for Nolan for now, but after he wraps ‘The Odyssey’, Imax will begin renting them out to other directors. (ANI)
