Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey won’t be three hours long… but it will be pretty dang close. IMAX and AMC Theatres both revealed the runtime for Nolan’s adaptation of the Greek epic and it clocks in at a whopping 2 hours and 53 minutes.
The runtime has since been removed from these websites, but was prominently featured as confirmed by my very own eyeballs. It’s possible both websites jumped the gun ahead of the official ticket presales. The Odyssey had a limited ticket presale last July, allowing fans to book tickets to the film’s opening weekend showings in 70mm IMAX long before the first trailer even came out, but more tickets are expected to go on sale soon for standard IMAX and regular theatrical formats.
The credits could make up as much as 5–10 minutes of the overall runtime, but nevertheless, at this runtime, The Odyssey is set to be Christopher Nolan’s second-longest film behind Oppenheimer at 3 hours on the dot. Interstellar and The Dark Knight Rises would trail behind The Odyssey at 2 hours and 49 minutes and 2 hours and 45 minutes, respectively.
Christopher Nolan has historically tried to keep his movies at 3 hours or less, as he prefers to shoot on IMAX film. The platters that physically hold the film reels can not withstand anything beyond 3 hours and Nolan had to work with IMAX to slightly extend the platters to even allow for Oppenheimer’s runtime. The Odyssey will be pushing right up against that limit once again. Whether Nolan had to make any cuts in order to accomodate his runtime restrictions is currently unknown, but The Odyssey is a massive story with a lot of ground to cover and it’ll be interesting to see how Nolan tackles all of it.
Although there is a lot of hype building around The Odyssey, the film has been the subject of some controversy online, specifically with regards to the casting of the Oscar-winning Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra. The actress responded to the backlash by noting that she is honored to play the character, but there’s nothing she can do to quell the backlash. “I’m not spending my time thinking of a defense. The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not,” she said.
Nolan has also been criticized for “historical inaccuracies,” with many pointing out that the accents and dialogue in the film don’t resemble the era the film is portraying. Specifically, some viewers were frustrated over the use of the word “daddy,” a word that Robert Pattinson’s Antinous uses to taunt Tom Holland’s Telemachus. This resulted in a lot of discourse about the evolution of languge throughout history, as well as whether or not period-accurate dialogue is important to a movie.
Others have latched on to the armor featured in the film, as some of it feels a bit more theatrical than what soldiers and warriors would’ve worn during that time. Nolan recently defended the armor in an interview with Time magazine, noting that his portrayal is “feasible” and was made with great consideration.
“Hopefully they’ll enjoy the film, even if they don’t agree with everything,” said Nolan. “We had a lot of scientists complain about Interstellar. But you just don’t want people to think that you took it on frivolously.”
The conversation around the film has been nausiating, to say the least.
The film features an all-star ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, Charlize Theron, and many, many others. It’s expected to be one of the biggest films of the summer in a stacked season, alongside the likes of Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Supergirl.
The Odyssey will release in theaters on July 17, 2026.
Cade Onder is a freelancer for IGN’s news team. He covers all things entertainment, including gaming, film, and more. You can find him on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
