There are, tragically, seven months standing between audiences and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. But if you can’t wait that long to get your dose of Nolan, you’re in luck: You can catch the first six minutes of the historical epic in theaters this month.
The prologue is showing ahead of the IMAX 70mm re-releases of two of this year’s biggest awards contenders: Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. These re-releases, which began Friday, will run for a week.
Only 10 theaters in the world — eight in the United States, one in Canada, and one in the United Kingdom — show films in IMAX 70mm, which, according to Variety, is Nolan’s preferred format for the film. That makes sense, given that The Odyssey will be the first blockbuster shot only on IMAX film cameras.
However, you’ll still have a chance to see The Odyssey‘s prologue even if you don’t live near a theater with IMAX 70mm capabilities. Starting Dec. 19, The Odyssey‘s prologue will play in front of all IMAX screenings of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, not just those in 70mm.
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The non-IMAX Avatar: Fire and Ash screenings will be showing a full-length trailer for The Odyssey, but not the entire prologue.
What’s in the prologue for The Odyssey?
If you can’t make it to any of these screenings but still want to know what goes down in The Odyssey‘s prologue, we’ve got you covered. According to outlets like Variety and World of Reel, the prologue recreates the end of the Trojan war, when the Greek forces snuck into the city of Troy inside a massive wooden horse disguised as a peace offering. The architect of that scheme? None other than Odysseus (Matt Damon).
Nolan invites viewers into Odysseus and his soldiers’ tense wait inside the Trojan Horse. Then, once they leave the horse, Nolan unleashes a full-scale battle, complete with Damon shooting his enemies with a bow and arrow.
The sequence is framed as a story passed from Sparta’s King Menelaus (Jon Bernthal) to Odysseus’ son Telemachus (Tom Holland). Other members of The Odyssey‘s star-studded cast include Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Mia Goth, although none show up in the prologue. But you know what does appear? An animatronic cyclops. From promises of Nolan battles to practical monster effects, July can’t come soon enough.
The Odyssey hits theater July 18.
