Shooting the biggest film of his career left Christopher Nolan drained. The director told NBC's Today show that audiences should not expect another film from him for at least three years.
According to Variety and Deadline, Nolan said the production of The Odyssey pushed him to a breaking point. "I definitely hit the limits of my own stamina and everybody's stamina, I think," he said. "I mean, it's The Odyssey, of course it should be difficult. We're not doing the job right making a film of The Odyssey if it doesn't seem difficult."
The Odyssey is based on Homer's ancient Greek epic and follows Odysseus on his long journey home after the Trojan War. Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, leading a cast that includes Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron.
The film is already in theaters and is tracking to open above $257 million worldwide. That would make it Nolan's strongest global opening since The Dark Knight Rises debuted in 2012 with $249 million.
One of the most demanding elements of the production was Nolan's decision to shoot the entire film on IMAX 70mm cameras, something no director had done before on a feature of this scale. Nolan described pitching the idea to the IMAX team directly. "If ever we are going to fulfill this dream of shooting the entire movie that way, this is the one. This is The Odyssey," he told them.
Nolan has maintained a roughly three-year release schedule over the past decade. Oppenheimer opened in 2023, Tenet in 2020, Dunkirk in 2017, and Interstellar in 2014. He confirmed to Today that three years would be the floor, not the ceiling, for his next project.
Despite the grueling shoot, Nolan made clear he would not have approached the film any differently. He recently told the New York Times that the film industry's habit of avoiding risk is itself the riskiest move a studio can make. "If you're really interested in movies and the history of movies, the one thing you see absolutely is that you have to take risks to succeed. The biggest risk of all is to play it safe," he said. "That's what, consistently in mainstream movies, doesn't work. The audience is looking for something new."
No details about Nolan's next project have been announced.
