Hallmark Adapted The Odyssey Before Christopher Nolan And It's Actually Great

At this point, it's getting harder and harder to convincingly argue that Christopher Nolan's masterpiece movie "The Odyssey" isn't the definitive pop culture adaptation of Homer's Greek epic. Still, this doesn't mean that the 2026 movie is the only quality live action adaptation of the tale. In fact, as early as in 1997, Hallmark Entertainment and American Zoetrope gave us a miniseries version of "The Odyssey" — and it was actually great.

The Hallmark "The Odyssey" was written and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky (of "Maria's Lovers" fame), who won a Primetime Emmy award for outstanding directing for a miniseries or a special. The project also won an Emmy for its visual effects, and received further nominations for outstanding miniseries, outstanding art direction, and outstanding hairstyling. Critics also enjoyed the miniseries, which has a 79% Tomatometer rating on Rotten Tomatoes. These aren't Nolan-tier figures, admittedly — the reviews for his "The Odyssey" surpassed every expectation, while the film sits high with a Tomatometer score of 94% — the Hallmark version's accolades and critical approval still prove that it's a great watch.

Co-executive produced by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, Hallmark's "The Odyssey" originally ran on NBC and boasts an impressive cast. The miniseries stars Armand Assante as Odysseus, Greta Stacchi as Penelope, Christopher Lee as Tiresias, Isabella Rossellini as Athena, Vanessa Williams as Calypso, and a whole host of other familiar faces. The actors all bring their A-game, too, and both Assante and Stacchi received Golden Globe nominations for their work.

The two-part "The Odyssey" begins when Odysseus and his men are summoned to take part in the Trojan War, and ends with his return to Ithaca many years later. It, naturally, covers much of the same ground as the Nolan version. However, the two have dramatically different approaches to how they interpret and portray the various gods, monsters, and mythological characters that Odysseus and his men encounter during their perilous journey.

For instance, Samantha Morton's Circe gives us a jarring scene no one saw coming in Nolan's "The Odyssey," providing a dramatically different version of the character than Bernadette Peters' Circe in the miniseries. Because of storytelling variety like this, the two projects are easily different enough for a viewer to enjoy them both without things getting too repetitive. Call it a Trojan horse of a different color.