Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ heads to digital

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is finally setting sail for home theaters.

The blockbuster adaptation of Homer’s epic poem will be available to rent and purchase on digital beginning Nov. 17, following its theatrical debut on July 17. The film is also slated to arrive on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray the same day.

The digital release comes four months after Nolan’s nearly three-hour epic opened exclusively in theaters, marking a substantially longer theatrical window than most major studio releases. Nolan and Universal took a similar approach with “Oppenheimer,” which spent 123 days in theaters before arriving on premium video-on-demand and physical media in November 2023.

The film has earned roughly $1.35 billion worldwide, making it Nolan’s highest-grossing movie and, as of this week, the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, surpassing “Deadpool & Wolverine.” It has also grossed more than $500 million domestically. Imax has contributed a massive $257 million in ticket sales, and “The Odyssey” now ranks as the company’s highest-grossing release of all time.

Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, the Greek king attempting to make his perilous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. The sprawling ensemble also includes Tom Holland as Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron.

In his review of the film, Variety’s Guy Lodge wrote that “There’s nary a dull moment in the director’s typically muscular, temporally complex interpretation.”

“But despite a fine, bone-weary turn from Damon as the wandering king of Ithaca,” he continued, “it’s more sensually than emotionally felt.”

-Variety