Nolans Odyssey: Controversial Film Sparks Chaos

He is one of the industry's most celebrated directors, known for fronting films like , The Dark Knight, Dunkirk and Interstellar.

So it comes as a surprise that Christopher Nolan has been subjected to criticism for his latest project The Odyssey ahead of its July release.

The film is set to be an adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic the Odyssey, which sees the Greek King embark on a perilous journey home after the Trojan War in a bid to reunite with his beloved wife Penelope. 

Despite the film being in the trusted hands of the Oscar-winning director, fans haven't quite got to grips with the casting yet.

In what has been dubbed his 'most extreme project to date' alongside an incredibly starry cast - the pressure for Nolan to win over critics is like no other.

Already known for his impressive art and high-budget fare, Nolan's latest film could prove to be his most ambitious yet, with the $250 million budget the most expensive of his career, his first to be shot entirely on IMAX 70mm cameras. 

Lead stars Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway have joined forces with , , , , , and  as well as . 

Matt is starring as the titular hero Odysseus, while Devil Wears Prada icon Anne plays his devoted queen, who is forced to fend off potential suitors in her husband's absence.

Yet the film has received heaps of attention for all the wrong reasons - sparking backlash over its 'bizarre' casting, being accused of fuelling 'brutal repression' and sending Elon Musk into meltdown. 

Nolan recently defended his decision to cast Kenyan actress Nyong'o in the movie after Musk called the casting 'historically inaccurate'.

Nyong'o, 43, is set to play Helen of Troy's sister Clytemnestra, and was named People Magazine's 'Most Beautiful Woman' in 2014 following her triumphant Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for 12 Years A Slave.

Nolan defended his castings, saying: 'Hopefully they’ll enjoy the film, even if they don’t agree with everything.' 

'The oldest depictions of Homeric characters tend to be depicted in the manner of people living in Homer’s time,' the director told Time magazine.

'So there’s a pretty strong case there for portraying things that way because that’s the way the first audience received the story.'

Musk was called out for his remarks about the casting in January by The View host Sunny Hostin. 

'Anyone can portray a fictional character', she exclaimed. 'It doesn’t have to be a white person that plays this part.'

She added: 'I think we have to call a thing a thing when we’re talking about someone like Elon Musk… We know what this is. He is a white supremacist. In my view, he is a racist.'

Emmy-winner Alec Baldwin has since weighed in on Musk's anti-woke campaign against Nolan's movie.

In a public display of support for Nyong'o and Nolan, Baldwin wrote on Instagram: 'Dear Elon… but she IS the most beautiful woman in the world…Alec'.

The post included a photo of Nyong'o, which his wife Hilaria shared a slew of fire and heart emojis in the comments.

On what will be his biggest film to date, Nolan explained why he wanted to tackle the project.

'You’re always looking for something that hasn’t been done before', Nolan told Stephen Colbert in May, explaining what drew him to the project. 

'And Greek mythology… hadn’t really been done on a kind of A-budget, big studio, throw everything at the screen and see what sticks kind of way… It’s just one of the great adventure stories and I really wanted to see it done justice.'

Nolan revealed that he always tries to approach each film as if it were his last.

'I feel a real responsibility to try and get as much on screen for the audience as possible to give the audience the fullest flavor, the fullest set of images and events that we can give them for a given story', he told The Hollywood Reporter.

'When I’m writing, I’m visualizing the film as an audience member, as somebody experiencing the story', he said. 'Then, when I direct the story, I’m trying to take the audience there. So, in the case of The Odyssey, I’m trying to put the audience into that horse. I’m trying to put them on the deck of Odysseus’s ship.'

Nolan admitted the film is one of the 'hardest' movies he has ever made, revealing it pushed him to his limits.

Although Homer's epic poem begins ten years after the events of the Trojan War, Nolan's adaptation appears to include some major events from the end of the war, including Odysseus's plan to trick the Trojans by hiding Greek soldiers inside a giant horse presented as a peace offering, though the Trojan horse is only briefly referenced in Homer's tale.

The Odyssey was last memorably adapted for the silver screen by the Coen Brothers in their 2000 satirical musical O Brother, Where Art Thou? starring George Clooney.

Yet it is Nolan's adaptation that has been accused of fuelling 'brutal repression' by filming in Morocco-occupied Western Sahara.

Last year, the film was shot for four days near the city of Dakhla, part of a region that the United Nations has designated as a 'non-self governing territory' since 1963.

Western Sahara, which has become a magnet for big-budget film sets, is not legally a part of Morocco.

The US and UK are among Western governments to recently endorse the North African nation's claim over the land, as per Deadline. 

The Western Sahara International Film Festival (FiSahara) allegedly called on Nolan at the time to halt shooting in the region. 

'Dakhla is not just a beautiful location with cinematic sand dunes. Primarily, it is an occupied, militarised city whose indigenous Sahrawi population is subject to brutal repression by occupying Moroccan forces,' the festival said.

'By filming part of The Odyssey in an occupied territory billed as a "news black hole" by Reporters Without Borders, Nolan and his team, perhaps unknowingly and unwillingly, are contributing to the repression of the Sahrawi people by Morocco.'

In a statement, FiSahara continued: 'We are sure that were there to understand the full implications of filming such a high-profile film in a territory whose indigenous peoples are unable to make their own films about their stories under occupation, Nolan and his team would be horrified.

'Morocco routinely touts Sahrawi cultural expressions as uniquely Moroccan. They created a film festival in Dakhla to counter ours, and produce high-budget films that portray Western Sahara as part of Morocco. However, Sahrawis trying to make films about their lives are persecuted and must work clandestinely and at great risk to themselves and their families.'

The Daily Mail has contacted Universal for comment. 

Nolan's latest film comes after his 2023 biopic Oppenheimer won him a long-awaited Oscar for Best Director, and one for Best Picture.

The film, which starred Cillian Murphy as the theoretical physicist who helped develop the first nuclear bomb, grossed $975 million at the box office.

The Odyssey opens in theatres on July 17.