Robert Pattinson, from left, Lupita Nyong'o, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron, and Zendaya pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'The Odyssey' on Monday, in London. [AP]
Matt Damon has played action hero Jason Bourne, an astronaut stranded on Mars and dozens of other characters, but it was his role as the Greek king Odysseus that he said presented his biggest on-screen challenge.
Director Christopher Nolan insisted on practical effects and real-world scale over digital shortcuts for his telling of “The Odyssey,” which will debut in theaters on July 17. The nearly three-hour movie from Universal Pictures, the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras, adapts one of the oldest surviving stories in human history.
“This is how a movie would have been made 80 years ago,” Damon said. “Everything’s in-camera. You know, if you see a thousand people, then there are a thousand people there. The ships, those are real ships in the background.”
Nolan’s “Odyssey” was shot in six countries, including Morocco, Greece and Iceland. Damon and fellow cast members worked through extreme weather conditions with high winds and pounding rain that battered them on ships out in the open ocean.
