Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of “The Odyssey” will be partly filmed in Sicily which, according to scholars, was a location for Ulysses’ wanderings in the epic composed by Homer around 8th century BCE.
Shooting of the Sicilian portion of Nolan’s “Odyssey” is expected to start in roughly two months on the island of Favignana, known as “goat island,” which is believed to be the place where Homer envisioned Ulysses landed with his motley crew to barbecue goats and stock up on food. The idyllic isle is part of the Egadi archipelago off of Sicily’s north-west coast.
Nolan – who is shooting “The Odyssey” using brand new Imax film technology – is also likely to film some of the big-budget epic in Sicily’s Eolian islands, according to several sources. But the bulk of the mythical action movie’s Sicily shoot will be in Favignana. The film’s other announced locations are the U.K. and Morocco.
Italy’s Wildside, a Freemantle company, is servicing the Sicily shoot of “The Odyssey,” which Nolan is producing with Emma Thomas under their Syncopy banner for Universal Pictures. The Italian line-producer on “Odyssey” is Erik Paoletti. Wildside also recently handled physical production of Edward Berger’s “Conclave” in Rome.
There was no comment from Wildside on Monday. Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Actor-director Benny Safdie is reuniting with Christopher Nolan for the filmmaker’s latest movie, The Odyssey.
Safdie, who appeared as physicist Edward Teller in Nolan’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, joins an all-star Universal Pictures production that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Jon Bernthal.
The feature project is an adaptation of the Greek epic poem written by Homer. When making the reveal about the project in December, Universal described it as a “mythic action epic shot across the world 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.”
Shooting is due to begin in late February.
Safdie was most recent seen starring in the 2023 Showtime/A24 series The Curse, which he co-wrote and co-created with Nathan Fielder. Safdie was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for his performance in the series, and a WGA award for writing.
He most recently completed production co-starring in Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore 2 and, later this year, A24 will release his solo directorial debut, The Smashing Machine, a biopic of MMA fighter Mark Kerr starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.
Christopher Nolan has is taking four more actors on his hero’s journey — and most are familiar faces to his world.
Elliot Page, Himesh Patel, Bill Irwin and Samantha Morton round out the supporting cast of The Odyssey, Nolan’s adaptation of the epic poem by Homer that he is making for Universal.
EXCLUSIVE: Jesse Garcia (The Mother, Flamin’ Hot) and Will Yun Lee (San Andreas, The Good Doctor) have joined the cast of Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey from Universal, sources close to production tell Deadline. Their roles are under wraps.
Scream queen Mia Goth has joined the cast of Christopher Nolan‘s IMAX epic “The Odyssey,” Variety has confirmed. She will appear alongside a growing cast including Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo.
The action epic, based on Homer’s epic poem, starts production this month and will be shot across the world using new IMAX technology. Nolan reunites with his “Interstellar,” “Tenet” and “Oppenheimer” cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema on the project.
