‘The Odyssey’ Oscar Blitz Locks In Downey Jr., Del Toro and Spielberg to Moderate Nolan’s Awards Push
Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey‘ has spent the year doing what most blockbusters can only dream of: dominating the box office and winning over critics at the same time. Since opening in July, the Homer adaptation has become the biggest hit of the director’s career. Now Universal is turning its attention to the next battlefield, the awards race.
The film opened with $264.1 million worldwide, including $124.5 million in North America, which at the time was Nolan’s biggest global launch ever. It has since climbed past $1.7 billion, making it the highest-grossing film in both Nolan’s filmography and Universal’s 114-year history. Its 95 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes is also the best of his career, ahead of ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘Memento’.
With those numbers behind it, the studio is now planning a full-scale campaign. According to a Variety exclusive, the ‘The Odyssey’ Oscar campaign kicks off in earnest the week of November 9 with a run of screenings and Q&As. The schedule puts Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and star Matt Damon in front of voters nearly every night for 2 weeks.
The most eye-catching part of the plan is who will be holding the microphone. Robert Downey Jr., who won Best Supporting Actor for ‘Oppenheimer’, will moderate the Los Angeles kickoff on November 11 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, following an IMAX 70mm screening. Guillermo del Toro will host the AMC Universal CityWalk session on November 12, also in IMAX 70mm, with Nolan and Damon on hand.
Steven Spielberg will then take the stage on November 17 at the DGA Theater, where he will handle a conversation with Nolan after a 70mm screening. Between them, the 3 moderators bring plenty of Oscar history to the room, and the strategy looks clear. Putting respected filmmakers in front of voters adds prestige to every event.
One of the campaign’s centerpieces isn’t a screening of the film at all. On November 10, Universal’s Spielberg Theater will host the world premiere of ‘Behind the Scenes of The Odyssey’, a 75-minute making-of documentary introduced by Nolan himself. Damon, who plays Odysseus, will moderate the Q&A afterward, which will include the key artisans behind the film.
That choice speaks to how much the studio wants to highlight craft. The film was shot entirely with IMAX cameras across 6 countries, and Nolan has described the production as a test of his own stamina. A documentary that celebrates the building of those sets, costumes and action sequences gives below-the-line voters a reason to pay attention.
Universal has also made its acting choices. Damon is being campaigned in Best Actor, while Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson and John Leguizamo are in Best Supporting Actor, and Anne Hathaway and Samantha Morton are in Best Supporting Actress. Nolan is submitted for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, with Nolan and Thomas up for Best Picture.
The list leaves out several well-known names, including Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page and Jon Bernthal. Variety has predicted that the film could land a dozen nominations, and early screenings reportedly drew strong reactions from Academy voters. Nolan is also seen as an early favorite for Best Director after winning for ‘Oppenheimer’.
The final trailer for Christopher Nolan’s ‘THE ODYSSEY’ has been released. In theaters on July 17. https://t.co/xn42TcX4aG
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 1, 2026
The schedule comes at a crucial moment. Variety noted that Odysseus spent 10 years getting home, while Universal has roughly 10 weeks to get the film onto ballots. The campaign events will also overlap with the film’s home release, which arrives on digital, 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on November 18 with 12 behind-the-scenes features overseen by Nolan.
That means voters will be able to revisit the movie at home soon after the Los Angeles events. For the studio, the combination of big-screen 70mm showings and a polished home release creates multiple chances to remind them of what they saw in July.
Whether the strategy pays off remains to be seen. But with a box office record, glowing reviews and a lineup of Hollywood heavyweights doing the talking, ‘The Odyssey’ is entering awards season in a very strong position.
Which The Odyssey Oscar nomination would you most like to see?
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