The Odyssey

The first trailer or teaser for Christopher Nolans upcoming epic The Odyssey showcased the film’s grand Mediterranean vistas through IMAX cinematography, with a scant three lines of dialogue sprinkled in. This week, we’ll unpack the music and sound in the second trailer for The Odyssey, released May 5th. While there is a lot more story unveiled in this new trailer, the music stays pretty faithful to the tone of the first trailer.

After a full five seconds of the bright green Motion Picture Association message on screen (Nolan knows he has his audience’s attention and doesn’t need to slam us with any microteasers here) we see the production companies’ logos as we hear a synthesizer chugging sixteenth notes on an F minor chord. This musical choice almost feels like an action thriller or sci-fi film. Perhaps taking a page from the Christopher Nolan classic _The Dark Knight _opening bank heist scene, also driven by pulsing (albeit grittier) sixteenth notes?

At 0:11 we see Odysseus (Matt Damon) adrift at sea. He then recounts to Calypso (Charlize Theron) his memories of his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) and his son Telemachus (Tom Holland). Meanwhile, sustained strings and wordless vocals provide simple harmonic texture, evoking the musical sensibilities of Hans Zimmer’s score from Gladiator. This first chapter of this trailer closes with a shot of Odysseus watching the towers of Troy burn to the ground at 0:35, after which point the music cuts.

The silence leaves space for a shot of Odysseus imploring, “Help me go home.” A cymbal roll segues us into a cut to black screen with the text “From Christopher Nolan” on screen flickering as though lit by lightning, while a choir of male voices utters a solemn and brooding F minor chord.

This next chapter of the trailer focuses on the tensions at home in Ithaca during Odysseus’ absence, notably Antinous (Robert Pattinson) and his ambitions for the throne. Musically this section is organized by a series of wordless sustained chords from male choir. At the entrance of each of the chords there is a short accent in the music or sound design (at 0:42 it’s thunder, at 0:47 it’s a sword slicing through meat, and at 0:52 it’s a drum). After each of the vocal chords has been sung for a few seconds, the vocals fade away, leaving space for a line of dialogue.

After a short pause in the music, as we see the antagonism between Telemachus and Antinous grow, at 1:11 we hear the same C-Ab minor sixth leap motif used in the film’s first trailer. It is followed up by a C-G leap in the same register, with these two short and melancholically heroic musical gestures conveniently outlining the movement from tonic to dominant in F minor.

The music cuts at 1:27 where we see Odysseus elegantly framed by a doorway as he declares he is “Bringing it all.”

And there’s no better cue to kick this trailer into high gear, because from here we cut to Odysseus leading a charge into battle (love that he screams “Let’s go!” here), and now the choir, string orchestra and large drums are all in. The drums help establish a pulse here, and the sword strikes are synched to the beat during a battle between Odysseus’ army and massive metal-clad men from 1:35-1:44.

Then at 1:59, just after we see a shot of Telemachus on the floor with a dagger to his throat, the music cuts, replaced by a low booming “ringing in the ears” tone, synched to coincide with a close shot of Odysseus screaming (but we hear no sound from him).

From 2:03-2:22 there is one final montage of soldiers racing across a mighty beach, mythical monsters crashing through the forest, and Odysseus trying to save his boat from a massive whirlpool at sea. Meanwhile a single unstable synth and brass chord is sustained, slowly detuning while large drums pound out a series of trailer triplets which end with a shot of a statue being decapitated (in time with the music of course). The music cuts and there’s time for one last mythical monster jump scare in the dark before the trailer closes.

An epic trailer for an epic film of an epic story. While much of the music in this trailer evokes the kinds of scoring that Hans Zimmer has done for films like The Dark Knight and Gladiator, we can be sure that in_ The Odyssey_’s original score, composer Ludwig Göransson will be bringing a fresh and exciting musical perspective (he told media that he bought 35 gongs for the score to the film: we can’t wait to hear how he uses them!).

The Odyssey lands in theatres July 17, 2026. Get ready.

— Jack Hui Litster