‘The Odyssey’ Oscar Blitz to Begin With Robert Downey Jr., Guillermo del Toro and Steven Spielberg as Moderators
Odysseus spent 10 years getting home. Universal is giving “The Odyssey” about 10 weeks to get its name on a ballot.
The studio’s official Oscar campaign for Christopher Nolan’s epic kicks off in earnest the week of Nov. 9, Variety has learned, with a run of screenings and Q & As that puts Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and star Matt Damon in front of voters nearly every night for two weeks.
Robert Downey Jr., who won supporting actor for “Oppenheimer” (2024), will moderate the Los Angeles kickoff on Nov. 11 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, with an Imax 70mm screening. Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro will be on hand at the AMC Universal CityWalk session on Nov. 12. Steven Spielberg will handle Nolan at the DGA Theater on Nov. 17, in 70mm.
That’s seven Oscar statuettes sitting in the moderator’s chair, and the campaign strategy is plain enough to see.
“The Odyssey” opened in July to a $264.1 million global debut, the biggest of Nolan’s career. It has since crossed $1.1 billion, becoming his highest-grossing film. Universal and Nolan’s team are continuing to focus on the format. Nearly every Los Angeles date is tagged Imax 70mm, 70mm or 35mm, reminding the membership that Homer’s poem was shot entirely using Imax film cameras and built to be judged on a screen the size of a building and not on a laptop or their home TV using the Academy digital portal.
The fall campaign leans on format and prestige in an effort to convince voters it’s more than a box office hit. Only two films that cleared $1 billion have won best picture, “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Others, like “Avatar,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Barbie” all got in but went home without the top prize. It’s a reminder that some voters might treat a summer tentpole as only that. However, Nolan has one major credential that could clear all of those hurdles. “Oppenheimer,” also a summer blockbuster, took home seven Oscars back at the 2025 ceremony, including best picture and director.
One of the campaign’s centerpieces during this awards blitz isn’t a screening of the film at all.
On Nov. 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. The film’s star Damon, who plays Odysseus, will moderate the Q&A afterward, which will include all the key artisan players: producer Emma Thomas, casting director John Papsidera, editor Jennifer Lame, production designer Ruth De Jong, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, hair department head Gloria Casny, makeup department head Luisa Abel, sound mixer Willie Burton, supervising sound editor Craig Henighan, composer and songwriter Ludwig Göransson and visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson. A reception will follow.
If the movie ends up with a dozen nominations, and Variety thinks it will, many of them will come from the people invited to that room.
The first set of campaign events is listed below.
“Behind the Scenes of The Odyssey” World Premiere
“The Odyssey” Screening Schedule
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco
United Kingdom
Europe
Australia/New Zealand
Brazil
“The Odyssey” Oscar Submissions (per Universal’s FYC materials)
The studio’s official Oscar campaign for Christopher Nolan’s epic kicks off in earnest the week of Nov. 9, Variety has learned, with a run of screenings and Q & As that puts Nolan, producer Emma Thomas and star Matt Damon in front of voters nearly every night for two weeks.
Robert Downey Jr., who won supporting actor for “Oppenheimer” (2024), will moderate the Los Angeles kickoff on Nov. 11 at the TCL Chinese Theatre, with an Imax 70mm screening. Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro will be on hand at the AMC Universal CityWalk session on Nov. 12. Steven Spielberg will handle Nolan at the DGA Theater on Nov. 17, in 70mm.
That’s seven Oscar statuettes sitting in the moderator’s chair, and the campaign strategy is plain enough to see.
“The Odyssey” opened in July to a $264.1 million global debut, the biggest of Nolan’s career. It has since crossed $1.1 billion, becoming his highest-grossing film. Universal and Nolan’s team are continuing to focus on the format. Nearly every Los Angeles date is tagged Imax 70mm, 70mm or 35mm, reminding the membership that Homer’s poem was shot entirely using Imax film cameras and built to be judged on a screen the size of a building and not on a laptop or their home TV using the Academy digital portal.
The fall campaign leans on format and prestige in an effort to convince voters it’s more than a box office hit. Only two films that cleared $1 billion have won best picture, “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.” Others, like “Avatar,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Barbie” all got in but went home without the top prize. It’s a reminder that some voters might treat a summer tentpole as only that. However, Nolan has one major credential that could clear all of those hurdles. “Oppenheimer,” also a summer blockbuster, took home seven Oscars back at the 2025 ceremony, including best picture and director.
One of the campaign’s centerpieces during this awards blitz isn’t a screening of the film at all.
On Nov. 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. The film’s star Damon, who plays Odysseus, will moderate the Q&A afterward, which will include all the key artisan players: producer Emma Thomas, casting director John Papsidera, editor Jennifer Lame, production designer Ruth De Jong, costume designer Ellen Mirojnick, hair department head Gloria Casny, makeup department head Luisa Abel, sound mixer Willie Burton, supervising sound editor Craig Henighan, composer and songwriter Ludwig Göransson and visual effects supervisor Andrew Jackson. A reception will follow.
If the movie ends up with a dozen nominations, and Variety thinks it will, many of them will come from the people invited to that room.
The first set of campaign events is listed below.
“Behind the Scenes of The Odyssey” World Premiere
“The Odyssey” Screening Schedule
Los Angeles
New York
San Francisco
United Kingdom
Europe
Australia/New Zealand
Brazil
“The Odyssey” Oscar Submissions (per Universal’s FYC materials)