Universal Lays Out Two Weeks of Oscar Events for Nolan's The Odyssey
Universal's official Oscar campaign for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey starts the week of November 9, with screenings and question-and-answer sessions. Variety reported the schedule on October 30.
The plan puts Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and star Matt Damon in front of voters almost every night for two weeks. Awards voters, who are members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, are the audience these events are built for.
The first big night is November 10. A 75-minute making-of documentary, Behind the Scenes of The Odyssey, has its world premiere at Universal's Spielberg Theater, and Nolan introduces it. Damon then moderates a panel with Thomas, editor Jennifer Lame, composer Ludwig Göransson and other members of the film's crew.
Robert Downey Jr. moderates the Los Angeles kickoff on November 11 at the TCL Chinese Theatre. The evening includes a screening in 70mm, a wide film format that gives the picture a larger, sharper image than standard prints.
Guillermo del Toro joins a campaign session at the AMC Universal CityWalk on November 12. Later in the month, on November 17, Steven Spielberg interviews Nolan at the DGA Theater, with a 70mm screening. The Directors Guild of America is the directors' union, and its theatre hosts many awards-season conversations.
Film fans will know the film's box-office run, which has been large. Variety reported that the film opened in July with a $264.1 million global debut, the largest opening of Nolan's career. It has since crossed $1.1 billion worldwide, making it his highest-grossing film, according to the same report.
The film is an adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic. Reuters noted in July that it follows Oppenheimer, the 2023 film that won Nolan his first Academy Awards. Nolan has said that bringing the story to the big screen was "challenging."
Universal shot the whole film with IMAX film cameras, and the making-of documentary is the studio's chance to show how that was done. For Oscar voters, the campaign is a chance to meet the people behind the film before they fill in their ballots. For moviegoers, the calendar is a reminder of how many talks and screenings a major release now carries after its cinema run.
