Christopher Nolan says he wouldn’t have been able to make ‘The Odyssey’ without already making this one movie

Christopher Nolan recently shared that his latest project, The Odyssey, would not have been possible if his previous film, Oppenheimer, had not achieved such significant success. The director appeared on The Daily Show, where he discussed the challenges and realities of bringing such a massive, foundational text to the screen, Deadline reported

When Jon Stewart asked why he chose to tackle a poem written around the 8th century BCE, Nolan was very direct about his reasoning. He noted that Oppenheimer had way more success than he ever expected, and that kind of momentum provides a unique opportunity to get projects greenlit that might otherwise be impossible to produce.

Stewart seemed genuinely surprised that a filmmaker with such a massive resume would still need to prove his worth to a studio. He pointed out that after hits like The Dark Knight, Interstellar, Inception, and Memento, it feels like Nolan should have a blank check for any project he wants. Nolan stated that he thinks the success of his previous work helped him secure the necessary support. He specifically mentioned that the Oscar recognition played a part in convincing the studio to back a film that requires such a massive budget and a sprawling cast.

Oppenheimer’s success made this all possible

He mentioned that The Odyssey is a very hard movie to make, but he insisted that it is hard for all the right reasons. He believes that the sheer ambition of the project shows up on screen, which is exactly what you want to hear from a director working on an epic scale.

During the conversation, Stewart brought up the fact that Nolan managed to complete the production ahead of schedule and under budget, which is a rare feat in the industry. Nolan confirmed this, though he offered a very grounded perspective on what that actually looked like on set. He explained that they went in with a plan for a hundred days of shooting. By day 91, the team had reached a point where they could not have taken another step forward.

Nolan noted that by the end of the shoot, everybody was done and completely exhausted. He described the process as having gone through it, which really highlights the level of effort required for a film of this magnitude. He concluded by saying that they finished at the right time, as they had just enough time to get the film made.

The interview also took a lighter turn when Stewart asked some rather unusual questions about the source material. He wanted to know why the cyclops did not tell a joke, what happened to the wheels on the Trojan horse, and if the entire story is just happening in the mind of Odysseus. It was a fun departure from the typical press tour questions, and it showed a different side of how Nolan engages with the classic text.