The Odyssey is almost upon us. Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s 2,700-year-old epic poem already has spectacular reviews, but if you’re still on the fence, it just picked up the endorsement of one of Hollywood’s most powerful leading men: Tom Cruise. As confirmed by his own contributions to cinema over the last few years, from the Mission: Impossible series to his Top Gun: Maverick, it’s hard to find a bigger champion of the theatrical experience than Cruise.
To celebrate the release of one of the year’s biggest cinematic events, Cruise posted on social media, “Wow! To Chris, Emma, and ALL of your brilliant cast and crew. Thank you for an amazing night in a movie theater,” Cruise wrote in a post he shared on Instagram and X, referring to Christopher Nolan as well as his wife and producing partner Emma Thomas. “I can’t wait to see it again!”
Cruise included a picture of himself holding a movie ticket for The Odyssey. We can see that he watched the movie in an IMAX theater. The Odyssey is the first movie in history to be shot entirely on IMAX 70mm film cameras, meaning it will look especially spectacular on huge screens.
Cruise has a history of championing the work of other filmmakers, and has publicly promoted movies like Sinners, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Twisters, F1: The Movie, The Running Man, and Disclosure Day. He and Christopher Nolan have never worked together, but Cruise is a fan of the director’s work. He promoted Tenet as well as Oppenheimer, and may have been partly responsible for the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon in 2023.
Cruise is also known to promote the theatrical experience in general. He delayed the release of Top Gun: Maverick so it wouldn’t come out until after people had been vaccinated against COVID-19 and would be comfortable seeing it in theaters. The movie opened in May 2022 and went on to make nearly $1.5 billion at the box office. Director Steven Spielberg famously thanked the actor. “You saved Hollywood’s ass, and you might have saved theatrical distribution,” he said. “Seriously, Maverick might have saved the entire theatrical industry.”
In an age when major players like Netflix are downplaying the theatrical experience, famous evangelists like Cruise are important. And his efforts seem to be working, since movie theater revenues are on the rise in 2026. This could be the most profitable year for the industry since 2019, the last year before the pandemic effectively shut theaters down.
As for The Odyssey, it follows Odysseus (Matt Damon) as he tries to get home to his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) after fighting in the Trojan War. Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Bernthal, Elliot Page, Travis Scott, and Charlize Theron are also part of the star-studded cast.
The Odyssey opens in theaters on Jul. 17, 2026. Tom Cruise’s latest project, Digger, opens Oct. 2.
Release Date
July 17, 2026
Runtime
172 Minutes