Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey arrived with the weight of myth long before audiences entered the theater. Shot entirely with IMAX cameras and produced on a reported $250 million budget, the epic assembled one of the most star-studded casts in recent memory, led by Matt Damon, Tom Holland and Zendaya.
As the film became Nolan’s biggest opening weekend ever, attention quickly shifted from its record-breaking box office to another blockbuster question: how much did its leading stars earn?
Who Earned the Most in The Odyssey?
Matt Damon reportedly earned the highest salary among The Odyssey cast, with an estimated paycheck of $15 million. While Universal Pictures has not officially disclosed the actors’ salaries, several entertainment outlets, like The Times of India, have cited industry estimates placing him at the top of the payroll thanks to his leading role as Odysseus, the legendary King of Ithaca.
According to those reports, Tom Holland ranks second with an estimated salary of $10 million for portraying Telemachus, Odysseus’ son. Zendaya, who plays the goddess Athena, is believed to have earned around $5 million, reflecting both the size of her role and her status as one of Hollywood’s most in-demand stars.
Although the figures remain unconfirmed, they align with recent salaries the actors have commanded in other major studio productions. The estimated pay gap also reflects the different positions each actor holds within the film.
Damon is the central protagonist and appears throughout the nearly three-hour epic, while Holland serves as one of the story’s principal supporting characters. Zendaya, despite being one of the movie’s biggest names, has a more limited but pivotal role as Athena, whose guidance shapes Odysseus’ journey.
Is The Odyssey One of Christopher Nolan’s Most Expensive Movies?
With a reported production budget of approximately $250 million, The Odyssey is widely considered Christopher Nolan’s most expensive film to date. The ambitious adaptation of Homer’s epic surpassed the budgets of Tenet (around $205 million), Interstellar ($165 million) and the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, which cost roughly $100 million to produce.
The massive investment reflects the unprecedented scale of the production. Nolan filmed across multiple countries, including Greece, Italy, Morocco and Iceland, while recreating ancient civilizations through large practical sets instead of relying heavily on CGI.
The production also featured thousands of extras and extensive location work to capture the scope of Odysseus’ decade-long voyage home after the Trojan War. Another major factor behind the budget was Nolan’s commitment to technology.
It became the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX 70mm cameras, requiring newly developed equipment and a close collaboration with IMAX engineers. The format significantly increased production costs but also became one of the movie’s biggest selling points, driving premium-format ticket sales during its opening weekend.
The investment has already shown promising returns. The film debuted with approximately $264 million worldwide, marking the biggest global opening weekend of Nolan’s career and surpassing the launch of The Dark Knight Rises.
That record-breaking start has strengthened expectations that The Odyssey could become one of the director’s highest-grossing films if it maintains momentum throughout its theatrical run.
