"Did that whole movie at 167": Matt Damon shares key details about his transformation journey for The Odyssey

The Odyssey is an upcoming film in the epic action fantasy genre written and directed by Christopher Nolan. He has also produced it with Emma Thomas for Syncopy. The film will be released by Universal Pictures on July 17, 2026. Matt Damon is playing the role of Greek king Odysseus in the film. In a recent interview, he spoke about his physical transformation.

"I used to walk around at between 185 and 200, and I did that whole movie at 167."

Let's get into the details of his comment and find out more about the film. It's Nolan's first directorial venture since he bagged an Oscar for Best Director.

Matt Damon talks about his physical transformation for The Odyssey

Matt Damon recently spoke to Variety about his physical transformation for The Odyssey. The actor opened up about reducing his weight to play the protagonist by following a strict diet.

“I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. [Nolan] wanted me lean but strong. Just because of this other thing that I did with my doctor, I stopped eating gluten. I used to walk around at between 185 and 200, and I did that whole movie at 167. And I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”

He further spoke about the film being entirely shot on IMAX cameras.

“Imax cameras are really loud. It sounds like a blender, like a Cuisinart in your face when the camera’s close to you. So there’s never been these dialogue. We couldn’t have this conversation with a normal Imax camera because you wouldn’t be able to hear us. They built this giant thing around the Imax for those dialogue scenes and a system of mirrors so your eye line would be close to the camera and you could talk to the other actor. The amount of work that went into figuring out how to do [that], because he wanted to do 100 percent Imax and he did it!”

The Odyssey is adapted from Homer's Greek epic Odyssey, and follows the king as he travels back home after the Trojan War. The film also stars Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, and Benny Safdie, among others.

The film will be released on July 17, 2026.