Charlize Theron, Matt Damon share behind-the-scenes stories of "The Odyssey"

Charlize Theron and Matt Damon shared their fascinating behind-the-scenes stories of "The Odyssey" in an interview held in late July in Beijing, part of their visit to China for promoting the movie.

Theron, who plays goddess Calypso in the epic action fantasy film, said director Christopher Nolan's adaptation of the original epic made Calypso's relationship with Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, way more complicated and surprising.

"Yeah she does give him the lotus flower that makes him forget and you could look at her as kind of the manipulator and all. But I love that he (Christopher Nolan) made it more about that. The lotus flower can only do so much. The rest is really him and that he has to be the one to make that decision. I really like that because I think it makes it a way more complicated relationship and surprising," she said.

Theron said she shot her scenes in just five days, with most shooting taking place on a small island.

"It feels very very lonely. These kind of just a wide white sand beaches. I guess that there's a sadness about that too, that she doesn't choose to be on. It's not by her choice to be on that island either," she said.

"As Chris said to me early in pre-production when he was looking for where we were going to shoot that, he said yeah the minute you see a palm tree, he goes, I question that you would ever leave. You know, if I was marooned on an island with Charlize and it was really beautiful, and you know then I maybe might stop wondering about my family," said Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus in the film.

Damon said before filming started, Nolan warned him about the tough shoot, and he strengthened physical training and practiced archery for his role.

"Like speed loading an arrow onto a bow that was very hard to learn. So, I spent a few months...I had a bow and a couple of arrows in my apartment in New York and I would sit on the couch and practice that just thousands and thousands of times," he said.

"The Odyssey" was released on Friday on the Chinese mainland, with the latest official data showing its box office from preview screenings and pre-sales already surpassing 100 million yuan (about 15 million U.S. dollars).

Charlize Theron, Matt Damon share behind-the-scenes stories of "The Odyssey"

China is continuing to experience a box office boom this year, driven by a nationwide campaign to spur consumption with cheaper cinema tickets while a series of big summer releases are also enticing film fans out to theaters up and down the country.

Seen as one of the most lucrative periods of the year, China's summer box office season, which officially runs from June 1 to August 31, has now generated more than 10.7 billion yuan in box office revenue as of midday Thursday.

This has helped propel China's total box office revenue for 2026 above 26.5 billion yuan (over 3.9 billion U.S. dollars) as of Thursday afternoon, with more than 670 million moviegoers and over 96 million screenings recorded, according to the latest data from a leading Chinese ticketing platform.

The diverse line-up of summer blockbusters covers a broad range of genres, including comedy, animation, sci-fi, war, and suspense and action, offering audiences more choices and helping attract viewers from different age groups and with different interests.

Among the best performers is the anti-war film "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East," which tells the story of a chef working at a Chinese restaurant in the Middle East when war breaks out in the 2000s. It has drawn positive feedback both for its perspective on war and the vivid portrayal of life in the Middle East.

In just 10 days since its release on Aug. 11, the film has raked in over 1.2 billion yuan, catapulting it up the box office charts as it closes in on the year's biggest grossing films.

Ticketing data shows that the current top four on China's annual box office chart are the auto-racing sequel "Pegasus 3", Hong Kong director Stephen Chow's sports comedy "Kung Fu Soccer" about a team of female footballers, the touching family drama "Dear You", and animated film "All Wishes Come True!"

China launched a nationwide campaign this year to boost the cinema sector, with at least 1.2 billion yuan in subsidies planned throughout 2026 to make movie-going more affordable. Data shows the average ticket price for domestic-made movies has dropped to 39.5 yuan (less than 6 U.S. dollars) this year, some 20 percent lower in 2025.

China's summer film season continues as consumption campaign entices moviegoers