Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey premieres in Paris

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” played in Paris on July 8 and July 9, according to French cinema listings, as audience reactions and first local reviews spread on social media after the film’s initial press screenings. The Paris dates followed the movie’s world premiere in London on Monday, where Nolan and the cast launched Universal’s adaptation of Homer’s epic. Variety reported earlier this week that first reactions from press screenings called the film “astonishing” and “flawless filmmaking,” while posts tied to the Paris showings described the response in similarly enthusiastic terms. ### When did the Paris screenings happen? Le Grand Rex in Paris listed “L’Odyssée” on its calendar for Thursday, July 9, under “avant-première,” and French ticketing pages showed the film in local release materials dated this week. UGC’s film page lists Christopher Nolan as director, a 2-hour-52-minute runtime and a French theatrical release date of July 15, while AlloCiné carries the same July 15 date for France. (legrandrex.com) Paris screenings came after the London world premiere on Monday, which Variety described as the official launch of one of the summer’s biggest studio releases. That report said the film carries a reported $250 million price tag and stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Zendaya, among others. ### What are people saying after the first screenings? (legrandrex.com) Variety said on July 6 that members of the film press had called “The Odyssey” an “incredible,” “staggering achievement” and an example of “flawless filmmaking” after early screenings. The outlet said the first wave of reactions suggested Nolan “has another huge hit on his hands,” attributing that assessment to the tenor of the initial reviews it had compiled. (variety.com) Social posts circulating after the Paris screenings used similar language. The posts described the film as “insane,” “brilliant” and “epic like Interstellar,” and said one of the more reserved write-ups still rated the film four stars out of five. Those characterizations were circulating on X in posts aggregating French audience and critic reactions from July 8-9. (variety.com) ### What do the French listings say about the movie itself? UGC’s listing describes “L’Odyssée” as a “mythic epic” following the return of Ulysses to Ithaca and identifies the film as an action-adventure release. The page names Matt Damon, Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway among the lead cast and says the running time is 2 hours and 52 minutes. Le Grand Rex’s English-language page says the film will play in its main hall in 70mm beginning July 15 and running into late August, with multiple daily screenings. (variety.com) The cinema describes the engagement as an exclusive large-format presentation in its “Grande Salle,” with tickets priced from 14 to 17 euros. ### What has Nolan said publicly before release? Christopher Nolan told Variety this week that using modern English dialogue in “The Odyssey” was “a no-brainer,” even though he said it “might bite me on the ass.” The director said he knew adapting an ancient Greek text for contemporary audiences involved choices that could draw criticism. (ugc.fr) (legrandrex.com) Variety also reported last month that “The Odyssey” is the first narrative feature to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. That report said Nolan had told Empire he shot more than 2 million feet of film during a 91-day production schedule. ### What happens next for the release? Universal is set to open “The Odyssey” in theaters on July 17 in the United States, Variety reported in its first-reactions story. (variety.com) In France, UGC and AlloCiné list July 15 as the local release date, and Le Grand Rex says its 70mm run begins the same day in Paris. (variety.com)