Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’: The Ultimate Epic, Claims Stunt Performer; “This Film Is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Spectacle”

Christopher Nolan might once more etch his name into cinema history with his Universal rendition of “The Odyssey.”

One of the movie’s stunt professionals, James Newman, mentioned during the
“Action for Everyone” podcast
, as reported by
Screenrant
, indicating that the feature will be “the ultimate epic among epics” and represents director Nolan “at his finest.”

“The Odyssey” is Nolan’s reimagining of the
iconic Greek epic
Regarding the hero Odysseus, who dedicates ten years to journey back home following his participation in the Trojan War. Matt Damon takes on the leading character. This movie was
announced in December 2024
as Nolan’s 13th film. The star-studded cast features numerous notable actors.
reunions
For Nolan, besides collaborating once more with Damon, he will be working alongside actors such as Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Elliott Page, and Benny Safdie. The film also features performances from Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, and John Leguizamo.

“I believe they won’t produce another film quite like this one,” stated stunt performer Newman. “It’s destined to become the ultimate epic. This will undoubtedly showcase Nolan at his peak performance with nothing held back.”

That means that the battle sequences are even more bloody, and the locations are even more daring places to shoot.

“He definitely fights a battle that a lot of people aren’t fighting,” Newman said of Nolan’s approach to directing. “The coordinator came to us with scout pictures of locations, and it’s just all over Europe because Odysseus’ journey is crazy, it’s like 10 years long. They found locations and Nolan would go like, ‘OK, this cave, has anyone ever filmed here before?’ And the local guy is like, ‘No.’ [Nolan] is like, ‘OK, great, we’re going to film here.’ This untouched place. He wants to be the first person there to do it, he wants to feel like no one has ever touched ground here. And every location is a hike.”

A single site that Newman thought could represent Odysseus’ home requires a two-kilometer uphill trek just to access. Additionally, Newman suggested that actors Damon and Holland perform numerous spectacular stunts throughout the movie.

“I was fortunate enough to work alongside an impressive team on this film project and got the chance to coach Matt Damon and Tom Holland as well. The reports about Tom’s physical capabilities are completely accurate; he truly excels at everything. He ought to take on all kinds of physically demanding roles,” Newman stated. “Tom stands out due to his athleticism and youth, making him seem like a youthful rendition of Odysseus.”

As for Damon’s Odysseus, Newman continued, “Matt definitely wanted to be more efficient because that’s the character. Odysseus, if anyone is familiar with that story, Odysseus is really the only war scene character along that journey. The guys he has with him have fought with him but Odysseus himself is like, ‘I’ve lived and breathed battle,’ and so that makes him more smart, and that’s why he’s so good. Matt definitely understood that and then we were trying to play that up as well. So he isn’t going to do flashy things.”

Actor Leguizamo said during
MSNBC
‘s “Morning Joe” that Nolan still works like an independent filmmaker despite having a massive budget. “He’s got a crazy budget, it’s not small, but he runs [it] like an indie film because he’s not doing it by committee, he’s not doing it by what the studio says,” Leguizamo said. “He’s like an indie filmmaker but with crazy money.”