Music by Three-Time Academy Award® Winning Composer Ludwig Göransson
Featuring “When I’m Home” Performed by James Blake, Travis Scott & Ludwig Göransson
Shot entirely with IMAX® Film Cameras, THE ODYSSEY, released by Universal Pictures, Arrives in Theaters Worldwide Today
LOS ANGELES, CA – July 17, 2026 – Back Lot Music announces the release of Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with music by three-time Academy Award®-winning composer Ludwig Göransson. The soundtrack to the new mythic action epic features the original song “When I’m Home,” written & performed by James Blake, Travis Scott & Göransson. The album is available everywhere digital music is sold and streamed, and on CD & Vinyl in partnership with Made By Mutant. Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY, released by Universal Pictures, arrives in theaters worldwide today.
THE ODYSSEY, the first film ever to be shot entirely with IMAX® Film Cameras, is Christopher Nolan’s third film featuring a score by Ludwig Göransson after Tenet and Oppenheimer, which earned the composer an Academy Award®. Göransson has also won Oscars® for Black Panther and Sinners and he is the recipient of six Grammys, including Song of The Year and Record of the Year in 2019 for “This Is America,” performed by Childish Gambino.
Nolan and Göransson began discussing the music for THE ODYSSEY during pre-production on the film. “Talking to Ludwig, I asked, ‘What can we do with instrumentation that’s related to the ancient world—the aulos, the lyre—but with a modern, fresh approach to how we use them,’” Nolan says. “And Ludwig, as he does, has created an entire unique grammar, a unique set of sounds drawn from both antiquity and contemporary sources, but using the instrumentation of the ancient world. Some of the vocal stylings of the ancient world, some of the ways he’s using voices is incredible. He went all around the world finding sounds and putting them together and making them wholly his own.”
Nolan suggested a Trojan alarm system made of large bronze sheets that the people in Troy would have sounded during the siege on their city. “The growing cacophony would transform into a unified musical statement, ultimately evolving into Odysseus’s defining motif,” Göransson says. “Chris described it as a lament, which had to contain three notes that would recur throughout the movie.”
The three notes would be a musical signature to echo the sound of Odysseus plucking the string on his legendary bow. “Wanting a unique sound and melody that would grab the audience’s attention and emotions, Chris suggested we use the plucking of a lyre to emulate a bowstring,” Göransson says. (The lyre heard in the film’s score would ultimately be played by Rosa Fragorapti, an archaemusicologist specializing in the study and performance of ancient instruments.)
Göransson began his writing process by composing songs with instruments he could perform himself, using guitar, harp, synthesizers, and 35 different gongs that he rented. “I was especially drawn to the sound of wind gongs, flat bronze discs with little fundamental pitch, heavy tuned overtones and long sustains,” Göransson says. “The challenge of writing music using gongs was exciting, and I created a unique notation system with detailed drawings of exactly where to hit the gong, with exact velocity.”
As Nolan began principal photography, Göransson sent him a 42-minute demo showing how the score was evolving—a collaborative process that continued throughout production. By the time filming wrapped, Göransson had spent nine months crafting nearly four hours of music. “It was clear Ludwig was embarking on his own extraordinary musical odyssey,” Nolan says. Alongside producer Emma Thomas and editor Jennifer Lame, Göransson and Nolan watched weekly cuts of the film, allowing the score to organically evolve alongside the edit over time.
After watching an initial assembly of the movie set to his score, Nolan and Göransson saw some gaps and opportunities for new ideas. One of them was integrating an additional vocal part to a variation on Odysseus’ theme, performed by English singer-songwriter James Blake, known for his distinctive falsetto. The range, tone, and vulnerability Blake brings through his voice have had a profound emotional impact on global audiences over the past two decades, which Göransson channels into the score.
The song “When I’m Home,” came together organically based on Göransson’s collaboration with Blake and Travis Scott, inspired by the opening lines from Christopher Nolan’s script: “A face, a fleet, a war, a man, a thought, a trick…” Says Göransson: “From the moment I read the lines Chris wrote, I tried many times to add music to it, just to fail in frustration, feeling like this was a puzzle that couldn't be solved. It wasn't until the very end of my process, and over a year of traveling and recording, that I realized that my journey is the song. It had to grow organically throughout the film, with Travis' vocalizations building up to the hauntingly beautiful voice of James.”
ABOUT LUDWIG GÖRANSSON
Ludwig Göransson has earned extensive global recognition in both the recording and motion picture industries as a sought-out composer and musical collaborator, having received three Academy Awards®, three Golden Globe Awards®, two Critics’ Choice Awards®, two Emmy® Awards and six Grammy® Awards, amongst other nominations.
Beyond these accomplishments, Göransson stands out in his field as an artist who accepts the responsibilities of his craft. By immersing himself in the traditions and musical cultures of those his music represents with a curious and collaborative spirit, he has managed to bridge and reflect worlds honestly and vividly.
Last year, Göransson executive produced and scored longtime collaborator Ryan Coogler’s critically acclaimed Sinners, grossing $367 million worldwide. The score for Sinners notably earned five Grammy® nominations. Göransson also earned nominations for “Best Original Score” and “Best Original Song” at the 2026 Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards – taking home the win for “Best Original Score” at both award ceremonies. Göransson also took home the Oscar for “Best Original Score” at the 2026 Academy Awards, and also earned a Best Original Song nomination for “I Lied to You,” which he co-wrote with Raphael Saadiq.
Göransson was once again enlisted by acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan to score 2023 Best Picture winner Oppenheimer, which grossed almost $1 billion. Göransson earned his second Academy Award® and his first Golden Globe® and Critics’ Choice Awards® for the ever-present score, which accompanies nearly every moment of the film, immersing the viewer in sound. The score also earned a 2024 Grammy Award®.Oppenheimer served as the second collaboration for Göransson and Nolan following their work together on the 2020 film Tenet. Göransson’s latest collaboration with Christopher Nolan, THE ODYSSEY, arrives in theaters on July 17, 2026.
Earning multiple awards and nominations for his work on Black Panther, including a Golden Globe nomination, a Grammy® Award for “Best Score Soundtrack”, and an Academy Award® for “Best Original Score,” Göransson returned to score and produce the soundtrack for 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, traveling to Nigeria and Mexico to bring together musicians from around the world and honor the legacy of the late Chadwick Boseman. The soundtrack featured the critically acclaimed song “Lift Me Up,” for which he (alongside Rihanna, Tems and Ryan Coogler) earned a 2023 Academy Award® nomination for “Best Original Song.”
Shaped by European upbringing in Linköping, Sweden, Göransson attended the Stockholm Royal College of Music before moving to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California for its Scoring for Motion Picture and Television program.
Göransson resides in Los Angeles with his wife and frequent collaborator, Serena Göransson, and their two children.
ABOUT JAMES BLAKE
James Blake is a GRAMMY®-winning producer, songwriter, and musician whose singular blend of soul, electronica, hip-hop, and alt-R&B has shaped the sound of modern music. Across seven studio albums, Blake’s catalogue has been seminal with over 2.2 billion streams, including his acclaimed album Trying Times released March 13, 2026 via Good Boy Records.
His transcendent vocals and visionary production have cemented him as one of contemporary music’s most influential figures, and a sought-after collaborator for Beyoncé, Frank Ocean, SZA, ROSALÍA, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Scott and more, contributing to era-defining albums like Blonde, DAMN., ASTROWORLD, Lemonade, and Motomami. Recently, Blake collaborated with revered UK Rapper Dave on his critically acclaimed album The Boy Who Played The Harp, and crafted “Séance” alongside Ludwig Göransson, a standout from the Sinners movie soundtrack.
ABOUT TRAVIS SCOTT
Internationally acclaimed global superstar and Houston native Travis Scott is not only a leader in music, but in fashion, film, culture, and beyond. The diamond-certified, GRAMMY® Award-nominated artist, designer, style icon, actor, producer, entrepreneur, and Cactus Jack CEO and founder has changed the course of hip-hop with a procession of groundbreaking albums and conversation-starting moves.
Across his career, Scott has amassed more than 75 billion global streams, multiple multi-platinum and diamond-certified records, and numerous Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits, cementing his place as one of the most influential artists of his generation. His record-breaking 76-date Circus Maximus Tour became the highest-grossing rap tour in history, earning more than $209 million and drawing 1.7 million fans worldwide while setting merchandise and attendance records across multiple markets. Beyond music, Scott continues to shape culture through groundbreaking partnerships, his Cactus Jack creative universe, and an expanding presence across fashion, film, and business.
An undeniable cultural trailblazer and disrupter, Travis Scott is also the first non-athlete in history to have his own Nike and Jordan Brand signature shoe and apparel collection. Giving back, Travis launched the Cactus Jack Foundation as a 501(c)(3) with a mission to uplift Houston youth through toy drives, scholarship programs for HBCU students, and funding educational and creative opportunities for the next generation.
ABOUT CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’S THE ODYSSEY
Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY is a mythic action epic shot across the world using brand new IMAX® film technology. The film brings Homer’s foundational saga to screens worldwide as the first feature film ever shot entirely with IMAX® Film Cameras.
THE ODYSSEY stars Academy Award® winner Matt Damon as Odysseus, king of Ithaca; BAFTA winner Tom Holland as Odysseus’ son, Telemachus; Academy Award® winner Anne Hathaway as Penelope, queen of Ithaca and wife of Odysseus; Robert Pattinson as Antinous, an Ithacan suitor of Penelope; Academy Award® winner Lupita Nyong’o in dual roles as Helen of Troy, queen of Sparta, and as Helen’s twin sister Clytemnestra, queen of Mycenae; two-time Academy Award® nominee Samantha Morton as Circe, a powerful witch; Emmy winner John Leguizamo as Eumaeus, a faithful servant to Odysseus; Emmy and Golden Globe winner Zendaya as the goddess Athena; Academy Award® winner Charlize Theron as Calypso, an immortal nymph.
THE ODYSSEY is written for the screen and directed by Christopher Nolan, based on Homer’s Odyssey. It is produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan for their company, Syncopy.
Get Your Tickets to see THE ODYSSEY in Theaters HERE!
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Pre-Save or Pre-Order the Soundtrack Here: https://backlotmusic.ffm.to/theodyssey
TRACK-LISTING:
1. Zeus’s Law
2. Ithaca
3. Penelope
4. Telemachus
5. Calypso / Agamemnon
6. Let’s Go Home
7. Cyclops
8. Menelaus, Husband of Helen
9. Troy
10. Laestrygonians
11. Circe — Ludwig Göransson feat. Samantha Morton
12. Hades
13. Loyal to the Future
14. Sirens
15. Apollo’s Island
16. 7 Years
17. Another Name
18. Bringing It All
19. Welcome Home Stranger
20. Odysseus
21. The Trial of the Bow / Vengeance
22. Chasing the Escaping Sun
23. When I’m Home — James Blake, Travis Scott & Ludwig Göransson
For more information, please contact:
Nikki Walsh, Back Lot Music
(818)-777-9151 | Nikki.Walsh@nbcuni.com