Christopher Nolan reveals why he hid his Oscars while writing ‘The Odyssey’

Christopher Nolan has revealed that he cleared his office of every Oscar trophy while working on the script for The Odyssey.

Christopher Nolan has revealed that he cleared his office of every Oscar trophy while working on the script for The Odyssey.
The Dark Knight director is currently in full promotion mode for his upcoming film, which arrives in theatres on July 17. The movie is Nolan’s take on Homer’s ancient Greek epic and stars Matt Damon in the lead role of Odysseus.
During one of his press rounds, Nolan opened up about a moment with his son that happened while he was deep into writing the screenplay. His son had been away during the 2024 Academy Awards, when Oppenheimer swept multiple categories. By the time the kid came back home, he noticed something was off. The trophies that usually sat on the shelf were nowhere to be found.
Speaking to BBC, Nolan recalled his son walking into the office and asking him directly, “Where are your Oscars?”
The filmmaker explained that he had a good reason for tucking them away. “I said to him very seriously, well, I’m trying to write a new project. If I’ve got Oscars sitting there on the shelf, think about how daunting that’d be,” Nolan said.
That was when his son delivered the line that left him without a comeback. Looking at his father, the kid simply pointed out, “But you did not win for writing.”
It was a fair jab. Nolan took home two Oscars for Oppenheimer, for Best Director and Best Picture, but has never actually won for his screenwriting. He lost Best Adapted Screenplay for that same film to Cord Jefferson, and missed out on Best Original Screenplay twice before that, for Memento in 2002 and Inception in 2011.
The Odyssey marks Nolan’s first project since Oppenheimer’s Oscar sweep, bringing together Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, and Charlize Theron alongside Damon.