Christopher Nolan, director of The Odyssey, reportedly disagreed with his star Matt Damon’s viral quote about the film. In a recent interview, Damon lamented that The Odyssey felt like the last film of its kind. He said that he felt nostalgic shooting the film “because it felt like the movies when I started working — and I know that that’s going away.” He went on to say, “I knew that this was the last chance I was going to have to do something like this. I don’t think people are going to be given the resources to shoot movies that way for much longer.”

Nolan seems to disagree with this sentiment, taking a more hopeful stance that epic, exciting stories coudl still be made in a similar capacity to The Odyssey.

“I think I know what [Damon] was driving at, because it does seem like a long time since somebody made a film like this in this type of way, where you travel the world, get together a cast of thousands and so on. But there’s a defeatist aspect of viewing it that way that I don’t agree with. I think cinema is vital and essential and continues to transform itself — we’ve got all these great new young voices in movies, making the medium their own and moving it forward.”

Nolan is the current president of the Directors Guild of America and as such, it makes sense for him to wish for the best in Hollywood. He also commented on the recent success of young filmmakers at the box office, specifically Kane Parsons and Curry Barker for Backrooms and Obsession. He said, “This is why I never bought into the arguments that young audiences’ attention spans are too fried to enjoy a three-hour Greek epic. Those films are so mysterious and ruminative. I mean, parts of Backrooms are like David Lynch at his most obscure. And yet young people can’t get enough of them.” He also noted his appreciation for their use of practical effects, and that he was not worried about AI taking over Hollywood. He said, “I’ve never seen a more rapid wholesale dismissal of a supposedly foundational jump in technology in my lifetime. So much energy has been expended on bringing in AI, but if you look at that generation’s reaction, they’re utterly rejecting it.”

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey releases in theaters this weekend.