Christopher Nolan Virtually Directed Brad Pitt’s Troy Earlier than The Odyssey

Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey is likely one of the most anticipated movies of 2026, however practically 20 years in the past, the acclaimed filmmaker virtually directed one other historical Greek fantasy. Starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Jon Bernthal, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Mia Goth, and extra, The Odyssey is Nolan’s tackle Homer’s traditional work, which follows the hero Odysseus (Damon) on his decade-long journey house to Ithaca after the Trojan Struggle.

The Odyssey is a sequel, of types, to Homer’s first work, the Iliad, which chronicles the top of the Trojan Struggle, specializing in the exploits of the warrior Achilles and the Trojan prince, Hector. The Iliad was additionally the inspiration for director Wolfgang Petersen’s 2004 epic Troy, starring Brad Pitt as Achilles and Eric Bana as Hector. Sean Bean had a minor position within the movie as Odysseus.

Apparently, Christopher Nolan not too long ago revealed that Petersen wasn’t all the time meant to direct Troy — it was Nolan himself. In Empire‘s January 2026 cowl story for The Odyssey, Nolan advised the journal that he was “initially employed by Warner Bros. to direct Troy.”

The Oscar winner continued: “Wolfgang [Petersen] had developed it, and so when the studio determined to not proceed together with his superhero film [‘Batman Vs Superman’], he wished it again. Truthful sufficient. However on the finish of the day, it was a world that I used to be very to discover. So it has been behind my thoughts for a really very long time. Sure pictures, notably. How I wished to deal with the Malicious program, issues like that.”

Whereas Petersen’s Troy turned a monetary hit, incomes practically $500 million on the worldwide field workplace on a funds of $175 million, it wasn’t a crucial darling, with viewers praising the movie’s leisure worth however mourning the lack of the unique story’s supernatural components. Troy holds a Rotten Tomatoes critics’ rating of 53% and an viewers rating of 74%.

By 2004, Nolan was finest recognized for his work directing Memento (2000), starring Man Pearce as a person with anterograde amnesia who tattoos clues on his physique to seek out his spouse’s killer. In 2005, Batman Begins got here alongside, and the remainder is historical past. Nolan has gone on to turn out to be a family title and one of the vital bankable administrators in Hollywood, and The Odyssey is maybe his most daring movie but.

Nolan’s curiosity in Greek mythology and Homer’s work did not begin with Troy, nonetheless. He shared a second from his childhood with Empire that performed an vital position in his appreciation for narrative and historical, mythological storytelling. “I bear in mind seeing a faculty play of Ulysses (the Latin variant of Odysseus) after I was 5 – 6 years outdated,” Nolan started.

“The older youngsters had been doing it. I bear in mind the Sirens and him being strapped to the mast and issues like that. However that is barely a aware reminiscence. I feel it is in all of us, actually. And whenever you begin to break down the textual content and adapt it, you discover that each one of those different movies — and all of the movies I’ve labored on — you recognize, they’re all from The Odyssey. Emma [Thomas, Nolan’s wife and fellow producer] stated it finest after we first introduced the undertaking: it is foundational.”

Nolan could not have had the possibility to direct Troy, however IMAX screenings for The Odyssey have already offered out a 12 months upfront, cementing Christopher Nolan‘s subsequent undertaking as one of many greatest theatrical releases of 2026, if not the 2020s as an entire.

The Odyssey premieres in theaters on July 17, 2026.