After the 4th of July weekend, all eyes will be glued to “The Odyssey” as it begins its world premiere screenings on July 6th, leading up to its July 17th wide release. In a matter of days, we will have our first reactions to the first Christopher Nolan film since his Oscar coronation for “Oppenheimer,” and begin figuring out if “The Odyssey” lives up to that film and other Nolan classics, let alone the rest of 2026’s would-be Oscar contenders. But separated from all the usual Nolan hype, preseason Oscar expectations, and “Oppenheimer” echoes, what kind of word of mouth should we realistically expect to hear?
As Nolan’s first movie since he finally won his first Oscar, “The Odyssey” has the extra pressure of living up to “Oppenheimer,” much like any movie made from a director whose last movie won Best Picture, let alone any director who just won the Oscar after being long overdue. Yet in the context of follow-up movies from such directors, should our expectations be higher or lower?
When Steven Spielberg finally won his Oscar for “Schindler’s List,” he came back four years later with a “Jurassic Park” movie and an historical epic in the same year, just like he did in 1993. However, “Amistad” was not considered in the same vein as “Schindler’s List” by critics or the Academy, save for launching Djimon Hounsou’s career and landing Anthony Hopkins a Best Supporting Actor nomination. But since Spielberg came back with “Saving Private Ryan” mere months later, there wasn’t enough time to wonder if winning the Oscar had made him lose his drive.
When Martin Scorsese finally won his Oscar for “The Departed” in 2006, it seemed to free him to go back to basics for his next project. Instead of making a “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” or another kind of film aimed squarely at Academy voters, Scorsese’s first post-Oscar film was the twisty, rainy, and sinister “Shutter Island” in 2010. While that was a movie made more for thrills and late surprises than for awards, Scorsese went right back to contending for them by making “Hugo” the next year and “The Wolf of Wall Street” two years later.
There are more recent examples Nolan can look to, some of which are aspirational and some which aren’t. In the expanded era starting in 2009, there are only four directors who won Best Picture and then had their next films nominated as well – Kathryn Bigelow, Tom Hooper, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, and Guillermo del Toro. Nonetheless, none of them went on to win Best Picture a second straight time, and only one of them personally won another Oscar for a second straight film.
Bigelow made history by winning for “The Hurt Locker” in 2009, and looked poised to do it again with “Zero Dark Thirty” in 2012. Yet controversy dragged that film down enough that it cost Bigelow a once seemingly locked second straight Best Director nomination, even though the film stayed in a Best Picture field of nine. That field also included “Les Misérables,” which was the first film from 2010 Best Picture and Best Director winner Tom Hooper since “The King’s Speech.” But he, too, missed another Best Director nomination, while his film received far worse reviews than his last movie.
Another film from a then-recent Oscar winner that was rated a major step down from his last movie, but still got into Best Picture anyway, was 2021’s “Nightmare Alley” from “The Shape of Water” Oscar winner del Toro. Unlike “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Les Misérables,” it was actually shocking on Oscar nomination morning that “Nightmare Alley” cracked Best Picture, yet residual love for del Toro four years after his Oscars for “The Shape of Water” seemed to carry just enough.
In some way, shape, or form, “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Les Misérables,” and “Nightmare Alley” were all considered a big step down from their directors’ last Oscar-winning movies. Nonetheless, they still won Best Picture as much for their directors’ remaining good names as for their own merit. But one film truly came close to giving a director back-to-back Best Pictures in this era, and yet it happened for a film ranked fairly lower than its predecessor, too.
“Birdman” won Best Picture and Best Director for Iñárritu in 2014, with a 91%/8.5 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 87 on MetaCritic. In contrast, “The Revenant” only received an average rating of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 76 on MetaCritic. Yet it still landed Iñárritu a second straight Best Director Oscar, got Leonardo DiCaprio his overdue first Oscar, became a bigger box office hit than “Birdman,” and came within inches of knocking off “Spotlight” for Best Picture.
In that context, “The Revenant” is the biggest aspirational goal for Nolan, and “The Odyssey” is the movie that came closest in this era to matching its Oscar-winning predecessor, at least during awards season. But in another context, it is just like all the other movies, largely considered a creative step down, in some way, from an Oscar winner’s previous film.
Even so, the likes of “The Revenant,” “Nightmare Alley,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and “Les Misérables” still made out a lot better than many other films that Best Picture-winning directors made next. They certainly fared much better, in awards season or otherwise, than the next films of “The Artist’s” Michel Hazanavicius, “Argo’s” Ben Affleck, “12 Years a Slave’s” Steve McQueen, “Spotlight’s” Tom McCarthy, “Green Book’s” Peter Farrelly, and even “Parasite’s” Bong Joon-ho.
“Moonlight’s” Barry Jenkins did fare better when his next film, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” at least won an Oscar for Regina King, despite narrowly missing Best Picture in 2018. And while “Nomadland’s” Chloe Zhao took a hit with the decidedly mixed reviews for “Eternals” a year after her Best Picture and Best Director win, “Hamnet” did return her to the Oscars just last year. In addition, Nolan isn’t the only director whose first film after winning Best Picture is coming out this year, as “CODA’s” Sian Heder looks to contend again with Apple’s “Being Heumann” this fall.
Still, when it comes to directors who have won Best Pictures in this era, their next film is usually considered a letdown compared to their previous one, even if they still have some success with the Academy. Given that history, those who are hyped up for “The Odyssey” may need to temper their expectations for it as a movie, if not an awards contender, if they really think it can match or surpass the creative heights of “Oppenheimer.”
“The Odyssey” is more of a special effects adventure and epic spectacle than “Oppenheimer,” has far more fantastical elements involving literal Gods and monsters instead of figurative ones like Oppenheimer and Lewis Strauss, isn’t opening alongside another box office phenomenon like “Oppenheimer” did, and may not have the type of relevant social commentary “Oppenheimer” did about how we started our path to possible self-destruction. As such, Nolan certainly hasn’t designed “The Odyssey” to land in the same way with the same kind of impact “Oppenheimer” did, but can it realistically make audiences, critics, and voters rave with the same passion and high scores?
When the first reactions finally start coming for “The Odyssey” days from now, and then when they get tallied up into real aggregate scores, a reception on the level of “Oppenheimer’s” 93%/8.6 average rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 90 on MetaCritic is probably too much of a stretch, if history is any indication. By that standard and Nolan’s other highest standards, even something 10-15 points lower may be enough to make “The Odyssey” feel like a greater disappointment, whether or not that means anything for awards season down the line – or makes it get treated like a villain by the end of the season instead of a hero.
There’s a reasonable chance “The Odyssey” may have to settle for being the “Nightmare Alley” of 2026 – a film that has nowhere near the reviews and reception as its director’s last Oscar-winning movie, has a nomination package powered entirely by technical/below-the-line categories, but still squeezes into Best Picture on the strength of its director’s Academy fanbase and past cinematic credentials alone. Or maybe it is another “Les Misérables” that overcomes divisive reviews on the strength of box-office, big-screen spectacle, the enduring power of a centuries-old legendary tale, and Anne Hathaway standing out in a supporting role again.
If, on the other hand, “The Odyssey” is regarded as something truly close to or even on the same level as “Oppenheimer,” it and Nolan could well be an outlier unlike any we’ve seen in this era. That still might not lead to a second straight Oscar for Nolan, whether for Best Director or Best Picture. But compared to what other directors have done after their Oscar/Best Picture wins in this era, an outcome like that may be just as miraculous.
Are you excited to see “The Odyssey?” When are you seeing it? Which Oscar nominations do you think it will receive? Please let us know in the comments section below and on Next Best Picture’s X account.
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