Christopher Nolan has hired a six-metre Cyclops to take on a role in his upcoming new film, The Odyssey. More on the casting here.
Spare a thought for the internet news cycle. Powered as it is by an eternal rotation of clicks, the whole ‘click economy’ surged to new heights over the past few months with the announcement that Christopher Nolan was making another film with Universal to follow up the resounding success of 2023’s Oppenheimer. Rumours about the genre of his mystery film back in October of last year sparked a frenzy of clicks that would continue as the project’s canny marketing team revealed the involvement of one star name after another.
Of course, now that we know what the film is – The Odyssey – and we know the hugely impressive ensemble cast, there’s surely little else to tell and the entire internet news cycle could be about to fall apart.
Happily though, Nolan’s next project has entered the next phase of its marketing blitz: the technical wizardry. Renowned as he is for assembling productions that create incredible in-camera sequences, it looks as if The Odyssey will be no different.
Several outlets have picked up the story from a Nolan fan account which claims that sequences from the film that feature Polyphemus, a monstrous Cyclops, will be done in-camera. What’s more, the account provides some pretty fascinating details into how the process will be realised:
‘A 6x6m mechanical anthropomorphic puppet will be built inside Nestor’s Cave. The installation will be temporary, fully reversible, and constructed with portable materials to avoid any damage to the site. Special precautions, like geotextile and sand layers, will be used to protect the cave. Preparations began in February, including cleaning and securing the cave entrance.’
If accurate, this is likely one of several sequences that will see Nolan using practical effects to realise Homer’s epic 8th century BCE Greek poem. Of course, there will be some computer generated imagery in there as well, and let’s hope that Nolan doesn’t ‘forget’ to credit those hard-working folks too, as was reportedly the case with Oppenheimer.
Stay tuned for the next announcement of the film’s puppet ensemble. A quick read of Homer’s epic work tells us that there’s Scylla, a six-headed sea monster and Charybdis, a ‘giant whirlpool monster’. Surely Nolan wouldn’t actually build a functioning whirlpool monster puppet, would he? I think we all know the answer to that one. We’re looking forward to the announcement in the coming weeks. We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
