was an epic undertaking for all involved. The cast and crew embarked on a globe-trotting mission to bring the story of Odysseus’ homecoming to life in the most realistic way possible.
Here’s a look at in theaters Friday, by the numbers.
172: Runtime, in minutes, for 鈥淭he Odyssey鈥�
It鈥檚 shorter than (180 minutes), which was at least partially because IMAX film projectors can鈥檛 handle more than three hours. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an epic film, as the subject matter demands,鈥� . 鈥淏ut it is shorter.鈥� In case you don’t want to do the math, that’s 2 hours, 52 minutes.
91: Days of shooting
The shoot happened across six months though it was scheduled for 100 days. The efficient production finished nine days early.
鈥淚 found that after 100 days, it鈥檚 very diminishing returns. It鈥檚 very tough to keep getting new material because everyone鈥檚 so exhausted,鈥� Nolan said. 鈥淲e finished a little early because a lot of things broke our way in terms of weather or getting the conditions we needed or wanted to make particular shots. And at the end of that 91 days, I certainly couldn鈥檛 have done another 9 days, so I think the shoot took the length of time that it needed to take.鈥�
6: Countries filmed in
鈥淭he Odyssey鈥� filmed in Greece, Italy, Morocco, Iceland, Scotland and the United States.
鈥淔or me, being on a real location, shooting certain things like when the crew is out setting sail on that boat, or going through a storm, I want it to feel almost like a documentary,鈥� Nolan said. 鈥淚 want to just put the audience there, like they鈥檙e really there.鈥�
3: Number of times both Anne Hathaway and Matt Damon have worked with Nolan
Hathaway appeared in 鈥淭he Dark Knight Rises,鈥� Damon in 鈥淥辫辫别苍丑别颈尘别谤鈥� and both were in
2.1 million: Length of IMAX film shot, in feet
According to the production, that’s longer than the distance from Toronto to New York.
鈥淏y shooting on IMAX 70mm film, you鈥檙e really letting the screen disappear,鈥� Nolan said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e getting a feeling of 3D without the glasses. You鈥檝e got a huge screen and you鈥檙e filling the peripheral vision of the audience. You鈥檙e immersing them in the world of the film.鈥�
2.5-3: Minutes of continuous shooting on the IMAX film camera before it needs to be reloaded
Instead of being a hindrance, though, it kept everyone hyper-focused.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 an . You got two and a half minutes with each roll of film, so you gotta get it in and keep it moving,鈥� said Lupita Nyong鈥檕. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a different vibration on a Chris Nolan set. Everyone is present, everyone is ready, alert, and doing their bit to keep the train on the tracks.鈥�
The camera, plus the noise-reducing muffler they dubbed 鈥渢he blimp鈥� that encased it, weighs approximately 300 pounds.
5,300: Number of costumes designed and produced
Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick oversaw a team of 175 artisans in Los Angeles and a crew of over 500 around the world who helped bring the costumes to life.
35: Gongs rented by composer Ludwig G枚ransson
Aulos and the lyre provided the bedrock of the score, but G枚ransson also used bronze gongs to develop a unique soundscape for the film.
鈥淚 really loved the idea of approaching the music from the point of view that鈥檚 more the materiality of that world,鈥� Nolan said. 鈥淢y point to him was I鈥檓 trying to do this kind of earthy accessible kind of grounded version of the story 鈥� we should probably have the same discipline for the music and just try and create something from a different set of sounds.鈥�
2,000: Extras used to film the siege of Troy
鈥淭hat was fairly early on in the shoot, and it really brought home to me what we were trying to achieve with this movie,鈥� said actor Himesh Patel. 鈥淲e were shooting the scene where we all rush in and we鈥檙e all just storming the whole city. It鈥檚 all going crazy. It is fire light. There鈥檚 people screaming. There are people being killed. And the amount of actors and extras is kind of unfathomable. And then Hoyte (van Hoytema), the DP, turned to Matt (Damon) and went, 鈥榯his is a flashback.鈥欌�he scale of it suddenly came home to us all that this is just the beginning.鈥�
35: The height, in feet, of the Trojan Horses constructed
That’s about the height of a telephone pole. Production has not said exactly how many Trojan Horses there were, but there were more than one.
45: Duration of the 900-foot uphill hike, in minutes, to film the Ithaca scenes
Much of the cast and crew, including Nolan and Emma Thomas, hiked up a rugged hill to Castello di Santa Caterina every day. This is a moderately challenging hike that requires a good level of fitness.
1: Number of times actor John Leguizamo attempted the hike
鈥淚 hiked one day. I was like 鈥業鈥檓 not doing this again,鈥欌�� Leguizamo said. 鈥淚 mean, 40 minutes climbing up that 900-foot cliff and then you got to act for 12 hours? No, I took the helicopter.鈥�
115: Length, in feet, of the Draken Harald H氓rfagre
About 1/3 the length of a standard soccer field, this full-scale reconstruction of a Viking longship played Odysseus鈥� ship in the film. The working, wooden ship has 25 pairs of oars.
鈥淎ll of the actors had to learn how to row,鈥� Damon said. 鈥淲e went to a rowing camp. We had to really move this hundred-ton ship. That鈥檚 not a standard acting job, right? You鈥檙e playing a role, but you鈥檙e also really serving a real purpose on the ship and moving it around.鈥�
95: Height, in feet, of Nestor鈥檚 Cave in Greece, where they filmed the encounter with the Cyclops
The floor to ceiling height is about two letters of the Hollywood sign, stacked atop one another, high. The design of the Cyclops was something that Nolan and production designer Ruth De Jong started on very early in production, inspired partially by Goya鈥檚 painting 鈥淪aturn Devouring His Son.鈥�
鈥淭hat was a sort of touchstone for the mood, the sort of horror of it that we wanted to achieve,鈥� Nolan said. 鈥淎nd Ruth came up with a very brilliant idea fairly early on of rotating the eye, having the eye vertical in the face and that just clicked together for me.鈥�
12,109: Lines in the poem
Nolan studied many translations and adaptations to write his screenplay.
4: Oscar-winners in the cast
Hathaway (鈥淟es Mis茅rables鈥�), Charlize Theron (鈥淢onster鈥�) and Nyong鈥檕 (鈥�12 Years a Slave鈥�) all won for acting. Damon won for screenplay (鈥淕ood Will Hunting鈥�).
32: Locations in the U.S. and Canada showing the film in IMAX 70mm
is also the rarest, and some of the most popular locations in New York and Los Angeles are virtually sold out for weeks.
鈥淭he sharpness and the clarity and the depth of the image is unparalleled,鈥� Nolan said.
$31.99: Cost to see an 8 p.m. showing in IMAX 70mm at the Regal King of Prussia
According to analytics company EntTelligence, the current average 鈥減remium鈥� movie ticket price is $18.22. In 2022, it was $15.85.
$250 million: The reported production budget
But it’s not Nolan’s most expensive film; 鈥淭he Dark Knight Rises鈥� is. As far as modern production budgets go, this is in the range of a big blockbuster (the live-action 鈥淢oana鈥� had the same), though sometimes they balloon. 鈥淛urassic: World Dominion,鈥� released in 2022, is considered one of the most expensive films ever made with a production budget of $531 million, which accounts for tax rebates and incentives.
$69.95: Cost of the Trojan Horse popcorn bucket at Cinemark theaters
It鈥檚 also going for $115 on eBay.
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