# Christopher Nolan’s Oscar ‘Odyssey’: Can Matt Damon, Monsters and Mythology Deliver Another Best Picture Statue?

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/christopher-nolans-oscar-odyssey-can-matt-damon-monsters-and-mythology-deliver-another-best-picture-statue/
- Published: 2026-07-17T16:30:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-22T03:12:23+00:00
- Original publisher: Variety
- Original article: https://variety.com/2026/film/awards/odyssey-oscars-chances-christopher-nolan-best-picture-1236814404/
- Topics: Cricket, Entertainment, Film, Sport, TV

## Key points

- Nolan's "The Odyssey" is being tipped as a Best Picture contender
- Film has 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, 89 on Metacritic
- Follows Nolan's "Oppenheimer" Best Picture and Director wins

## Summary

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," his big-budget adaptation of Homer's epic, has opened to strong critical acclaim and is being positioned as a serious Oscar contender, reviving hopes for the long-dormant sword-and-sandal genre at the Academy Awards. The film matters because Hollywood epics of this kind have rarely competed for Best Picture since Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" won in 2001, and Universal Pictures is betting that Nolan's prestige, coming off his "Oppenheimer" triumph, can change that.

The article notes "The Odyssey" holds a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes and 89 on Metacritic, reflecting its warm critical reception. It cites historical precedents for ancient-world epics succeeding at the Oscars, including William Wyler's "Ben-Hur" (11 wins in 1959), "The Ten Commandments" (1956), "Spartacus" (1960), and Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003). Nolan enters the campaign with significant Academy goodwill after "Oppenheimer" won him his first Best Director Oscar and Best Picture in 2024, shared with producing partner and wife Emma Thomas.

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