Nolan reveals he was offered ‘Batman Begins’ as consolation after losing ‘Troy’

Los Angeles: 20 years before boarding "The Odyssey", filmmaker Christopher Nolan was asked to helm the 2004 epic "Troy" and said he had been interested in exploring the world since.

"I was originally hired by Warner Bros to direct 'Troy'. Wolfgang (Petersen) had developed it, and so when the studio decided not to proceed with his superhero movie ('Batman Vs Superman'), he wanted it back,” Nolan told Empire. The Oscar-winner explained that his desire to explore Homer’s Greek epic has been there for a while.

"At the end of the day, it was a world that I was very interested to explore. So it’s been at the back of my mind for a very long time. Certain images, particularly. How I wanted to handle the Trojan horse, things like that," the "Interstellar" director said.

Nolan told Empire that Warner Bros. took back "Troy" to give to Petersen and then offered Nolan "Batman Begins" as a "consolation prize".

"Troy" ended up being directed by Wolfgang Petersen and starred Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, Diane Kruger, Brian Cox, Brendan Gleeson, Rose Byrne, Saffron Burrows and Orlando Bloom.

Nolan's last directorial venture was the 2023 epic biographical thriller film "Oppenheimer" based on the life of J Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who helped develop the atomic bomb during World War II.

"The Odyssey" is set to release on July 17, 2026 and will feature Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal, among others.