Christopher Nolan has told The Telegraph that younger audiences are ‘utterly rejecting’ AI-generated content, calling their judgement of ‘AI slop’ immediate and harsh, just a week before The Odyssey opens in cinemas.
- Nolan points to the box office success of practical-effects horror films Backrooms and Obsession as evidence that young viewers still turn up for slow, mysterious cinema.
- The Odyssey leans heavily on practical work, including a 60-foot Cyclops puppet filmed at Psychro Cave in Crete, and was shot entirely on 70mm IMAX.
- UAE cinema listings show the film opening around 16 July 2026, with the official global date on 17 July, so expect early screenings followed by a full rollout.
With a week to go before The Odyssey lands in cinemas, Christopher Nolan has used an interview with The Telegraph to deliver one of his bluntest assessments of AI in filmmaking yet. In his view, the generation that grew up online has already made up its mind, and the verdict is not kind.
The fastest rejection of a technology Nolan has ever seen
Nolan told The Telegraph he has never seen a supposedly foundational technology dismissed so quickly. “So much energy has been expended on bringing in AI, but if you look at that generation’s reaction, they’re utterly rejecting it,” he said. His own children, in their late teens and early twenties, have apparently been among the harshest critics, spotting AI-generated material almost instantly because it grew out of an online world they know intimately.
He was careful not to write off the technology entirely, saying that not every aspect of it is useless or meaningless. His argument is narrower and more interesting: in filmmaking specifically, AI is arriving “at exactly the wrong time”, just as audiences are drifting back towards tactile, physical storytelling after years of heavily virtual productions.
Why Backrooms and Obsession matter to a three-hour Greek epic
Nolan’s evidence is the recent box office performance of Backrooms and Obsession, two low-budget horror films praised for their practical effects and physical sets. Both found success with young audiences despite being, in Nolan’s words, “mysterious and ruminative”, with parts of Backrooms resembling “David Lynch at his most obscure”.
That is his answer to anyone worried that attention spans have been fried beyond repair. “This is why I never bought into the arguments that young audiences’ attention spans are too fried to enjoy a three-hour Greek epic,” he said. It also conveniently sets the table for The Odyssey itself, which producer Emma Thomas has confirmed will run shorter than Oppenheimer’s three hours, though not by much.
The Odyssey as a practical-effects statement
The film backs up the philosophy. Shot entirely on 70mm IMAX, The Odyssey features a 60-foot Cyclops puppet, described by star Matt Damon, which the crew filmed at Psychro Cave in Crete, the mythological birthplace of Zeus. It is about as far from a green-screen volume stage as a blockbuster gets in 2026, and Nolan is clearly positioning the film as the counterexample to the virtual-environment era.
There is one awkward footnote: an audiobook version of the story was recently announced featuring Michael Caine’s voice reproduced using AI. Nolan cannot control every corner of the Odyssey ecosystem, it seems, though it does slightly undercut the purity of the pitch. It is also not the only gamble he has acknowledged, having previously defended the film’s modern dialogue while admitting the choice might come back to bite him.
When UAE viewers can see it
The Odyssey premieres globally on 17 July 2026, though UAE cinema listings currently show the film opening from Thursday 16 July, with Roxy Cinemas already displaying selectable showtimes through the opening weekend and VOX Cinemas listing a 16 July opening in a book-soon state. Given the film’s 70mm IMAX pedigree, premium-format sessions will be the ones worth watching for once bookings go fully live, so it is worth checking your preferred chain’s listings closer to the date rather than relying on early placeholders.
FAQ
What did Christopher Nolan say about AI ahead of The Odyssey?
Nolan told The Telegraph that younger audiences are ‘utterly rejecting’ AI-generated content, calling their judgement of ‘AI slop’ immediate and harsh. He said AI is hitting filmmaking at exactly the wrong time, as audiences show renewed interest in tactile, practical storytelling.
When does The Odyssey release in the UAE?
UAE cinema listings show The Odyssey opening around Thursday 16 July 2026, with early screenings ahead of the official global release date of 17 July 2026. Advance bookings were still rolling out across chains at the time of writing.
Does The Odyssey use practical effects?
Yes. The film was shot entirely on 70mm IMAX and features extensive practical work, including a 60-foot Cyclops puppet filmed at Psychro Cave in Crete, the mythological birthplace of Zeus.
How long is The Odyssey?
Producer Emma Thomas has confirmed the film runs under three hours, shorter than Oppenheimer. Cinema listings currently show a provisional runtime of around 172 minutes, though that may be adjusted before release.
