Acclaimed director Christopher Nolan revealed whether The Odyssey will be longer or shorter than his previous film, 2023’s Oppenheimer.

In an interview with the AP, Nolan revealed that The Odyssey will be shorter than Oppenheimer’s three-hour runtime. The reason is that The Odyssey was filmed exclusively on IMAX film cameras, and three hours is the maximum runtime that can be added to an IMAX film projector, according to the director.

“It’s an epic film, as the subject matter demands, but it is shorter,” he said.

“It’s an epic film, as the subject matter demands. But it is shorter.”

Nolan also explained that he feels a “massive amount of pressure” to deliver a quality film with The Odyssey, which adapts one of the most well-known pieces of literature ever.

Bringing Homer’s epic poem to life on the big screen comes with a “huge responsibility,” and the director knew that if anyone was going to attempt the feat, it needed to be done right because The Odyssey brings with it the “hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere.”

“There’s a massive amount of pressure. Anyone taking on The Odyssey is taking on the hopes and dreams of people for epic movies everywhere and that comes with a huge responsibility.”

Nolan is no stranger to adaptations, as he helmed three Batman movies and The Prestige, produced Man of Steel, and created cinematic interpretations of historical events with Dunkirk and Oppenheimer, among other projects. Nolan’s other credits include Inception, Interstellar and Tenet.

Through his work on these films, he’s learned that movie adaptations require a “strong and sincere interpretation,” especially when they involve beloved stories and characters, like with The Odyssey. According to Nolan, fans deserve a filmmaker who has “gone to the mat for it,” which he believes he has accomplished by directing “the best film possible.”

“What I learned from that experience is that what people want from a movie about a beloved story, a beloved set of characters, is they want a strong and sincere interpretation. They want to know that a filmmaker has gone to the mat for it. I really tried to make the best film possible.”

There are several major theatrical releases between now and the end of the year, such as The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Mandalorian and Grogu, Disclosure Day, Toy Story 5, Moana, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three.

Releasing one week after Moana and two weeks before Spider-Man, The Odyssey is one of the most anticipated films of the year. One year ahead of time, in July 2025, select tickets went on sale for showings of The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm, and it only took a matter of hours for tickets to sell out at several locations.

Before this year, Nolan’s highest-grossing films ever were The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight, which earned $1.085 billion and $1.008 billion, respectively, at the box office, with Oppenheimer coming in third with $975 million. There’s speculation that The Odyssey could eclipse all of those movies.

The Odyssey boasts a star-studded cast that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron.

Many of these actors have other films coming out this year, like Holland and Zendaya’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Hathaway’s The Devil Wears Prada 2. Now they’re teaming up for one of the most epic stories of all time, with Nolan at the helm.

The Odyssey will be released in theaters on Friday, July 17, 2026.