We are now truly in the midst of summer blockbuster season, as July is set to usher in some of the most anticipated films of the year, such as Spider-Man: Brand New Day and, of course, Christopher Nolan’s feverishly awaited The Odyssey, an adaptation of Homer’s timeless epic poem that is the first feature from the generational talent since the Oscar-winning Oppenheimer.
While we are still waiting for early word on Spider-Man: Brand New Day (and who in the hell Sadie Sink is actually playing), the first reactions for The Odyssey, which releases on July 17th, have started to pour in after yesterday’s premiere in London, and as has come to be expected from Nolan, they are stellar.
What is of particular note here is that, as mentioned by The Hollywood Reporter, instead of allowing the first wave of reactions to come from media influencers and bloggers through so-called “word of mouth’ screenings, Universal is placing an emphasis on major critic reactions in this initial wave, which is an undeniable statement on their confidence in the blockbuster epic. It is hardly surprising, since the glowing responses have these critics describing it as “staggering,” “an astonishing achievement,” “an absolute triumph,” and “Nolan’s biggest film to date.”
Early reactions have universally lauded the epic scale of The Odyssey, which ostensibly boasts the most set pieces of any Nolan film to date, while the performances of the cast, from Matt Damon to Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson have been universally praised, but intriguingly enough it is Samantha Morton who is being praised as a particular standout, even in a supporting role as the witch and goddess Circe. In their admittedly contained responses, there has not been any discernible criticism of The Odyssey, with the most ‘negative’ comment I have encountered thus far coming from Indiewire’s David Ehrlich, who called it “Too clunky to be S-tier Nolan,” but still conceded that “the last act rewards the journey,” the latter sentiment also echoed but other critics.
There has been no overt mentioning of the extended cast, which is hardly surprising given the sheer abundance of A-list talent in the production, including Canadian actor Elliott Paige, who was initially rumoured to be playing the ghost of Achilles, but has recently been confirmed to be portraying Sinon, Odysseus’ cousin and Greek soldier who fought alongside him in the Trojan War.
In other news then, while I may be a little late to the party with this information, it was reported last month that Jim Carrey is in talks to potentially return as the Grinch in a sequel to the 2000 smash hit movie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, alongside its original director Ron Howard.
While this is wonderful news for fans of this particular adaptation of the famous Dr. Seuss story, it is particularly surprising that Carrey would even consider returning to the role, despite his brilliant and beloved performance in the title role. This is because the experience was infamously torturous for Carrey, who was buried under immense layers of makeup and prosthetics that took eight hours to apply on the first day of production.
This reportedly led to the actor offering to return his $20 million paycheck to escape the miserable experience, but Howard’s longtime producer and collaborator, Bryan Grazer, had the idea to hire a Richard Marcinko, who according to Carrey was “a gentleman that trained CIA officers and special-ops people how to endure torture,” not to mention he also founded SEAL Team Six! Marcinko told Carrey to change up his behaviour whenever he found himself struggling with the makeup process, such as punching himself in the leg or smoking cigarettes, though he reserved just as much credit to the music of the Bee Gees. The makeup team did eventually get the process down to a much more tolerable three hours, and the heads of the team, Gail Ryan and the legendary Rick Baker, would go on to win the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Thus, while it is still surprising that Carrey would return to the role after twenty-six years, and talks could still break down as the actor and comedian has not yet been locked-on as of yet, there are a number of reasons why he is at least open to the idea.
First and foremost would be the advances in makeup and prosthetics that would undoubtedly streamline the arduous process for Carrey, but there is also the fact that this is one of Carrey’s most iconic roles, and there is clearly a part of the actor that would like to return to the role once again with enough time having passed. Finally, of course, there is the money, but given that Carrey was initially willing to part with his paycheck to escape the original movie there is likely no number that will make Carrey endure the worst of that makeup process all over again, especially as a veteran actor in his sixties.
As such, he will certainly command an impressive payday for the movie, but assurances will surely have to be made in the makeup department if he is to truly commit to the production. We can expect the final word on the potential project perhaps in the coming weeks and months, depending on negotiations.