Nolan's Odyssey (2026): filming locations vs real Greece

Par Gabriel Goldberg 29 July 2026 11 min read

On 17 July 2026 Christopher Nolan released The Odyssey , his IMAX re-reading of Homer, with Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Zendaya as Athena, Robert Pattinson , Charlize Theron as Calypso, Lupita Nyong'o as Helen and Clytemnestra, Jon Bernthal as Menelaus, Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, John Leguizamo as Eumaeus and Bill Irwin as Polyphemus. The film was shot in five real countries , and almost none of it was filmed on the real Ithaca I just sailed across this summer. That mismatch — real place of the myth vs place Nolan chose — is what makes the film so interesting to confront with an actual trip. Here, with pictures, is every set of the film, what it stands for in the poem, and what you really find when you get there. Voidokilia Beach, Messenia (Peloponnese): a perfectly drawn crescent of white sand, turquoise sea, dunes and lagoon, seen from the heights of Nestor's Cave. Christopher Nolan shot the 'Island of the Cyclopes' here. — Wikimedia Commons The five shooting countries of The Odyssey Nolan explicitly wanted to limit CGI in favour of real sets, shot on IMAX 65 mm . Scouting led him to five countries plus Malta (underwater studios) and Los Angeles (soundstages): Morocco — the city of Troy and Calypso's 'Ogygia'. Italy (Sicily and the Aeolian islands) — Odysseus's palace on 'Ithaca', the Wandering Rocks, and the Sirens. Greece (Peloponnese) — the 'Island of the Cyclopes', Menelaus's palace and Mycenae. Scotland (Aberdeenshire)…