Hideo Kojima finally weighs in on the blockbuster movie of the year.
Three years after Oppenheimer‘s smashing success, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated The Odyssey hit theaters on July 17, with IMAX showings selling out weeks in advance in several major cities. Nolan’s Homeric adaptation starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and many more A-listers has blown away audiences — and the acclaimed game designer is no different.
Via X, Kojima delivered his review of The Odyssey on August 6. He emphasized the truly immersive experience of Nolan’s filmmaking, saying: “Rather than simply watching the screen, I felt as though I was there the entire time. It was more than watching it, I witnessed it.“ Kojima highlighted the cinematography as well as the actors’ performances. Check out his full review below:
At the David Keighley Theater, I watched Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” (shot entirely with IMAX® film cameras) presented in 70mm IMAX® film. Rather than simply watching the screen, I felt as though I was there the entire time. It was more than watching it, I witnessed it. The impact was close to what I felt when I was in elementary school student and when I first experienced the “Cinerama” at the “Osaka OS Theater.” Back then, I was used to watching everything on a CRT television, and the sense of immersion was unlike anything I had ever experienced. It brought back those memories. In hindsight, not having Japanese subtitles may have made the experience even better. I already knew the story well, having grown up watching the 1954 Kirk Douglas version and several black-and-white adaptations, but this was an entirely different experience. For me, it was an Odyssey unlike anything I had ever experienced. Despite the enormous 1.43:1 screen, Christopher Nolan and Hoyte van Hoytema’s cinematography brings us remarkably close to the actors’ faces. Through an exceptionally shallow depth of field and elegant pull-focus shots that shifts our attention to the finest details, they relentlessly follow the characters’ anguish and fate. The cast delivers performances powerful enough to withstand every bit of that extraordinary resolution. Nolan’s signature storytelling, with its meticulously interwoven timelines, is very much present here as well. Together, these elements elevate one of the world’s best-known classical epics into an intimate, deep human drama. It was magnificent. When it opens in Japan this September, it will be shown in digital IMAX®, but I have no doubt I’ll be making the “journey back” several more times.
Kojima’s opinion aligns with the wave of critical acclaim received by The Odyssey, which currently has a 94% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. ScreenRant‘s Alex Harrison awarded The Odyssey a score of 10 out of 10, calling it “one of the most impressive accomplishments of Nolan’s career.” Notably, The Odyssey follows Nolan’s long-awaited Oscar wins for Oppenheimer.
“With one foot planted firmly in reality, this is a painfully human retelling of Homer’s epic, mired in the visceral experience of Odysseus and his crew while grappling with what it means to be the kind of man whose deeds become songs,” Harrison continues. Armed with this critical consensus, as well as its incredible box office performance, The Odyssey is likely to be a favorite of the upcoming awards season.
At the time of writing, The Odyssey has brought in $429 million at the domestic box office and is closing in on $578.8 million internationally, meaning it has already crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide (per Variety). It is likely to return to IMAX and other formats over the rest of 2026 and into 2027. The Odyssey is also primed to overtake The Dark Knight Rises as Nolan’s highest-grossing movie overall.
Other box office records broken by The Odyssey include it being the biggest worldwide opening of Nolan’s career, the biggest live-action domestic debut of 2026, and the biggest R-rated domestic debut of the year, as well as several more markers pertaining to its cast and genre.
The Odyssey has swiftly emerged as a new contender for Christopher Nolan’s best movie. Reviewers like Kojima have acutely expressed how it is a cinematic marvel that proves what can still be done in film and at the box office. Kojima regularly engages with the biggest events in the entertainment industry, having recently also shared reviews for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Supergirl, and KPop Demon Hunters — but he still stresses that The Odyssey is something else entirely.
The Odyssey is now in theaters everywhere.
- Release Date
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July 15, 2026
- Runtime
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173 minutes
