3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jul 11, 2026 05:06 AM IST
FILMMAKER CHRISTOPHER Nolan on Friday described Indian moviegoers as “among the most enthusiastic, knowledgeable cinematic audiences in the world” as he launched his latest film, The Odyssey, in Mumbai ahead of its global release on July 17.
This is the first time Nolan, who adapted Homer’s The Odyssey as a visually stunning IMAX movie, is launching his latest film in India.
Addressing the audience at the end of a special screening at PVR INOX, Lower Parel, the director said it was “a long-cherished wish” to premiere a project in India. “For many years, I wanted to come here and launch one of my films and experience it with Indian audiences, who are among the most enthusiastic and knowledgeable audiences in the world,” he said.
Nolan, who is visiting India for the third time, said, “Every time I come here, it is very special.” In 2019, the director visited India during the making of Tenet. He shot some key sequences in India during a 10-day schedule.
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Prior to that, he visited India in 2011 to shoot for The Dark Knight Rises at Jodhpur’s Mehrangarh Fort.
For The Odyssey’s India premiere, Nolan is accompanied by his longtime producing partner and wife Emma Thomas, and actors Matt Damon and Tom Holland.
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Damon said the Mumbai screening had the film’s first public viewers since an earlier premiere was attended largely by family and friends. “You are the first real audience who have watched the movie. It means the world to us that you liked it,” the actor said.
“We worked very hard on it. It’s the result of thousands of people pushing themselves and each other to make this film so that you could watch it this way — filmed entirely on IMAX.”
Also Read | Christopher Nolan reveals why Odyssey had to be shorter than Oppenheimer: ‘Massive pressure’
Holland praised the enthusiasm of Indian moviegoers, saying: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for always welcoming us with open arms, happiness, excitement and love. No one brings energy to a movie theatre the way you do in India.” Thomas called the reception overwhelming and described the event as the culmination of the filmmaking process.
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India is hosting a two-day premiere of the film. Following Friday’s screening, a special show for Indian film personalities and others is scheduled for Saturday.
The Odyssey features Matt Damon as Odysseus, the legendary king whose decade-long arduous journey home after the Trojan War is chronicled in the epic. The film also features Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o and Samantha Morton in pivotal roles.
Shot across multiple countries, it is the first feature film to be photographed entirely with IMAX cameras.
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