Christopher Nolan is known for his dedication to the cinematic experience, and with his next project, The Odyssey, he’s taking things even further. For the first time ever, a feature film will be shot entirely on IMAX film cameras a technical and logistical feat that has never before been attempted at this scale.
The news was confirmed by IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond during the company’s press event at the Cannes Film Festival. Speaking to press, Gelfond said, “Chris is going to kill me for saying this, which makes him happy,” before revealing that Nolan had approached him a year earlier with a challenge: “If you can figure out how to solve the problems, I will make [Odyssey] 100 percent in IMAX.”
The problems weren’t minor. IMAX film cameras are heavy, noisy, and notoriously tricky to work with for long shoots. Issues with sound, reloading, and daily film processing had long made a fully-IMAX production unworkable. But Nolan’s request forced IMAX to innovate. Gelfond confirmed that the company had re-engineered their cameras to be about 30% quieter and significantly lighter, while improving film scanning to speed up the viewing of daily footage.
The cameras are exclusive to Nolan for now. Once The Odyssey wraps, IMAX plans to make them available to other filmmakers. It could mark a shift in how big-budget films are shot, especially with demand for the immersive formats continuing to grow.
Nolan has assembled a sprawling cast for the Homeric adaptation, including Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Anne Hathaway. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema returns to collaborate with Nolan, with filming already underway in Greece, Morocco, and Sicily—locations tailor-made for grand visuals.
This development comes after the record-breaking success of Oppenheimer, which earned over $190 million on IMAX screens alone. It also spurred IMAX to reimagine its hardware in response to Nolan’s creative demands. With The Odyssey, Nolan isn’t just adapting an ancient epic, he’s rewriting the rulebook for modern filmmaking.
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