{"id":400954,"date":"2026-04-16T03:50:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T03:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/400954\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T03:50:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T03:50:14","slug":"christopher-nolans-the-odyssey-highlights-universals-cinemacon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/400954\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Highlights Universal’s CinemaCon"},"content":{"rendered":"

After three straight years of closing its CinemaCon presentation with \u201cWicked\u201d footage<\/a>, Universal trotted out Christopher Nolan<\/a> for \u201cThe Odyssey<\/a>\u201d and Steven Spielberg<\/a> for \u201cDisclosure Day<\/a>,\u201d the latter as the studio\u2019s big finale. <\/p>\n

In these Daily Dispatches from CinemaCon<\/a>, we\u2019re sharing the highlights of what we saw, what was announced, what we didn\u2019t, and what was the overall vibe.<\/p>\n

The BEST Thing We Saw<\/p>\n

Of course it was \u201cThe Odyssey.\u201d Christopher Nolan said that the reason he wanted to make \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d was because it\u2019s not a story but the story, one that has enchanted audiences for 3,000 years, and he wanted to seize the opportunity to bring it to a modern audience.<\/p>\n

\"L<\/a> \"HOLLYWOOD,<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cThis movie was a nightmare to film<\/a>\u2026but in all the right ways, and we had an incredible time filming,\u201d Nolan said. He described going all over the world for the film and dragging Damon into caves, onto the ocean, essentially putting him through the ringer, and that he said \u201cyou\u2019ll be pleased to know how difficult it was to make.\u201d That\u2019s because he also worked with IMAX to figure out how to film dialogue scenes with the same intensity that the action scenes have. He showcased the Trojan Horse sequence, and we describe it in more detail here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

On the Focus Features<\/a> side, Robert Eggers\u2019 \u201cWerwulf\u201d looked absolutely intense in a very short tease, and we wrote a bit about it here<\/a>. The film looks as terrifying, demonic, and disturbing as anything he\u2019s done, so we\u2019re sure it will be another Christmas hit after \u201cNosferatu\u201d made $181 million globally. <\/p>\n

The BIG News in the Room<\/p>\n

Snoop Dogg in DA HOUSE. Universal kicked off its presentation with actor Jonathan Daviss, who will portray Snoop in a biopic about the rapper\u2019s life arriving next year (the film is still untitled and undated). Snoop gave some miniature performances of his hits. Brian Grazer, who made \u201c8 Mile,\u201d is producing the film for Imagine, and Snoop said the film starts filming this summer in Los Angeles. He also says he has a historic bungalow right there on the lot next to Spielberg. \u201cThere goes the neighborhood\u2026they called the fire department on me twice already, but there was no fire, just smoke.\u201d <\/p>\n

Universal showed three trailers without other intros. The first, \u201cOne Night Only,\u201d was like if \u201cThe Purge\u201d were a rom-com, in which sex is only legal one night a year and sees Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro potentially hooking up. \u201cOther Mommy\u201d is a Blumhouse film in which Jessica Chastain stars and is the mother of a child who sees a monster who looks just like her mom. And \u201cViolent Night 2\u201d shows David Harbour\u2019s Santa Claus turning up on his own Naughty List, losing his magic, and needing to go to a mall to save Christmas. Also Kirsten Bell is Mrs. Claus wielding a sword. <\/p>\n

Finally, Steven Spielberg was presented with the MPA America250 Award by MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin before he sat down for a conversation with Colman Domingo. The two talked about theaters, Spielberg\u2019s history with and nostalgia for Universal, and aliens, with Spielberg saying he became fascinated again with life beyond our planet because of how UFO has transformed into \u201c\u2019UAP,\u2019 Unidentified Anomalous Phenomenon.\u201d He also made a plea for more original stories, even ones based on books, and shouted out \u201cProject Hail Mary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf all we make is known, branded IP, we\u2019re going to run out of gas, and we\u2019re going to run out of gas very quickly,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing more important than giving audiences original stories\u2026we have to keep telling stories that people can\u2019t even imagine, and that\u2019s what\u2019s going to keep this business alive and in movie theaters for the next hundred years.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spielberg then said that he wanted to be very very careful about not revealing too much about \u201cDisclosure Day,\u201d and he said \u201call you need to get from the beginning to the end is a seatbelt.\u201d We saw effectively an extended trailer from the film, a little more of the weather lady sequence with Emily Blunt, Colin Firth as a government agent trying to track down Blunt, and Josh O\u2019Connor getting an intense phone call warning from Blunt saying that they\u2019re going to kill him before he escapes by driving his car through his own house. It\u2019s clear too that Blunt and O\u2019Connor\u2019s characters somehow know each other from their past and are connected in mysterious ways. <\/p>\n

What We EXPECTED to See but Didn\u2019t<\/p>\n

After news earlier this month that Ryan Gosling had joined and then had to drop out of the upcoming Daniels film<\/a>, there were no new announcements or updates about that project, and the same for Jordan Peele\u2019s next movie, which last year was removed from the release slate after originally being pegged for October 2026. We also expected some love thrown at films like \u201cShrek 5\u201d or \u201cFast Forever,\u201d but they got nary a mention. <\/p>\n

On a more business-y note, Chairman Donna Langley, who jokingly chided Sony\u2019s Tom Rothman for the \u201cunauthorized use\u201d of the Olympic rings during his presentation, gave her appreciation for both exhibitors and filmmakers, but she did not mention the studio\u2019s previously announced 45-day windowing policy<\/a> for all its wide releases (excluding Focus Features titles). <\/p>\n

What We LEARNED<\/p>\n

Universal loves its filmmakers. Distribution chief Jim Orr rattled off a long list of not just movies but the directors who made them dating back to 1930\u2019s \u201cAll Quiet on the Western Front\u201d from Lewis Milestone. It doesn\u2019t get any bigger than Christopher Nolan or Steven Spielberg, and they\u2019re glad to have them be the face of their IP even more so than some of their franchises. \u201cIt\u2019s no stretch to say that almost every filmmaker who has changed the course of storytelling through film has found a home at Universal,\u201d Orr said. <\/p>\n

Other Bullets<\/p>\n

Illumination\u2019s Chris Meledandri shouted out Jack Black as a \u201ctrue movie star.\u201d Black took part in all three of the major studio presentations thus far, including Sony for \u201cJumanji,\u201d Warner Bros. for \u201cA Minecraft Movie,\u201d and Universal for \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie.\u201d <\/p>\n

One of the two \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d scenes shown made references to Harold Lloyd\u2019s \u201cSafety Last!\u201d and Buster Keaton\u2019s \u201cThe General\u201d and \u201cSteamboat Bill, Jr.,\u201d and there\u2019s a movie director character in the film voiced by Christoph Waltz, who needs to put the Minions in his movie. <\/p>\n

Ben Stiller is the actor NOT in \u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d and he joked he was backstage lighting up with Snoop Dogg and Steven Spielberg. Watch the \u201cFocker In-Law\u201d trailer here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Robert De Niro was abundantly clear he was reading from a teleprompter, even though he got some pretty good laughs at Ben Stiller\u2019s expense. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After three straight years of closing its CinemaCon presentation with \u201cWicked\u201d footage, Universal trotted out Christopher Nolan for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400955,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[50678,154983,104158,93,1043,35995,61,60,270,18586,83194,17988],"class_list":{"0":"post-400954","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-christopher-nolan","9":"tag-cinemacon","10":"tag-disclosure-day","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-film","13":"tag-focus-features","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-movies","17":"tag-steven-spielberg","18":"tag-the-odyssey","19":"tag-universal-pictures"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400954"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400954\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}