Christopher Nolan’s films are popular in Korea. For example, back in 2014, Interstellar was seen by “over 7 million of 50 million Koreans” with a box office of over $50 million alone in the country. When you factor in Dunkirk, Tenet, and Oppenheimer, Nolan has brought in over “36 million admissions” in South Korea - but he’s never done a press tour there until now.

Nolan reportedly made sure that Korea was on the itinerary this time and shared a handwritten note ahead of his trip to Korean audiences.

After visiting China last week, Korea was the next destination for Chris, Emma Thomas, Matt Damon, and Charlize Theron. In addition to the usual events on the schedule like fan events and press conferences, Nolan reportedly also met with Park Chan-wook off-camera, though he shared details about their conversation during a news interview.

The Odyssey opens in Korea tomorrow and advance ticket sales have been explosive – but so have book sales which is incredible. Sales figures for Homer’s works have surged 600% in the Korea over the last few months alongside anticipation for the movie as some Koreans are literally doing their homework before seeing it.

But Chris and the cast have obviously done their homework too. Because when in Korea… even Christopher Nolan does aegyo.

Matt Damon can’t stop doing it, LOL. He did it before he was even asked.

@mtn.star 맷 데이먼, '오디세이'로 10년 만에 한국 컴백 😍 ｜ Matt Damon [MTN 직캠] #맷데이먼 #MattDamon #오디세이 #머니투데이방송 #MTN #MTNSTAR ♬ 오리지널 사운드 - MTN 머니투데이방송 스타

Matt’s daughters have accompanied him to Korea and all of them were K-hearting, family style.

From the moment he got off the plane, Matt was throwing up the heart, seriously. Because when he arrived he went to a baseball game, later sharing that he was amazed by the fan culture and the team cheers when he was there.

For Charlize Theron, like Nolan, it was her official press tour in Korea but she also confirmed that she’d come to Korea a few months ago with her daughter. Indeed, at the time she was spotted in Hongdae (in the daytime, not at night LOL) and during her promotional activities in Korea she talked about that trip, how they walked around eating and meeting up with friends and trying out skincare, a pretty standard Korean itinerary.

Charlize was in Tom Ford by Haider Ackermann for the presser – a look few could pull off, I love it but I could never.

On the red carpet it was custom Celine and very much in line with how Koreans do red carpets which is on the understated side. Chinese red carpets are bombast and extra AF. Korean’s pull back on red carpets, and this is a good example of Charlize matching that energy with her own. This material is exquisite, look at it. Also the shoes are exquisite – like ballet oxfords but make it a bootie.

Charlize Theron, Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas, Matt Damon at a press conference for "The Odyssey" in Seoul, South Korea, August 3, 2026

Charlize Theron and Matt Damon at a press conference for "The Odyssey" in Seoul, South Korea, August 3, 2026

Photo credits:  Lee Jae-Won/AFLO/Steve Cho Kyewoong/Shutterstock

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