Christopher Nolan loves to cast actors he’s previously worked with on his new projects. The trend will continue for The Odyssey, as Benny Safdie is the latest actor to join the cast.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Safdie joins the all-star cast of The Odyssey, which includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal. No character details have been revealed.
Safdie played Edward Teller in Nolan’s Oscar-winning drama, Oppenheimer. Safdie recently completed filming his role on Happy Gilmore 2. Safdie’s solo directorial debut, The Smashing Machine, will be released later this year by A24. The sports biopic stars Dwayne Johnson as former MMA fighter Mark Kerr.
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After much speculation, Universal Pictures announced last month that Nolan’s next movie will be an adaptation of The Odyssey, based on the ancient Greek poem by Homer. Not to be confused with Homer’s other poem, The Iliad, The Odyssey depicts Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and his treacherous journey home after the Trojan War. The epic poem is one of the seminal works in Greek mythology, as Odysseus encounters iconic creatures such as sirens, centaurs, and the Cyclops Polyphemus.
Christopher Nolan’s next film ‘The Odyssey’ is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.
— Universal Pictures (@UniversalPics) December 23, 2024
The Odyssey is slated to begin filming in late February. Per Variety, Nolan plans to shoot off the coast of Sicily on the island of Favignana, known as “goat island,” the likely place where Homer pictured Odysseus landing in the story. Sicily’s Eolian Islands are rumored to be another location where Nolan will film. Nolan will utilize new IMAX technology throughout the shoot.
The Odyssey reportedly has a budget of $250 million, the most expensive movie of Nolan’s career.
The Odyssey opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026.