Christopher Nolan says movies like Backrooms and Obsession are proof positive that younger audiences will sit through a three-hour Greek epic like The Odyssey – despite star Matt Damon's doubts.
"I think I know what he was driving at, because it does seem like a long time since somebody made a film like this in this type of way, where you travel the world, get together a cast of thousands, and so on," Nolan told the Telegraph when asked about Damon's thoughts. The actor previously stated that he "knew that this was the last chance I was going to have to do something like this."
"But there’s a defeatist aspect of viewing it that way that I don’t agree with. I think cinema is vital and essential and continues to transform itself," Nolan continues. "We’ve got all these great new young voices in movies, making the medium their own and moving it forward."
The filmmaker cited Curry Barker and Kane Parsons as examples of the landscape changing for the better, as mega-hits Backrooms and Obsession are concrete evidence of young people going to the theater to see weird stuff. As of now, Backrooms has pulled in $360 million worldwide against a budget of $10 million, with Obsession earning a whopping $406 million against a budget of under $1 million.
Nolan adds: "This is why I never bought into the arguments that young audiences' attention spans are too fried to enjoy a three-hour Greek epic. Those films are so mysterious and ruminative. I mean, parts of Backrooms are like David Lynch at his most obscure. And yet young people can’t get enough of them."
The Odyssey is based on Homer's epic of the same name and stars Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, as he tries to find his way back home after the Trojan War. It's got a runtime of 2 hours and 52 minutes.
The Odyssey arrives this July 17. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming movies in 2026 and beyond, or, check out our list of movie release dates.
