Matt Damon Jokes Tom Holland Calls the Shots at Sony

Matt Damon recently shared a light-hearted story from the set of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, where he worked alongside Tom Holland. Damon and Ben Affleck were guests on the On Film… With Kevin McCarthy podcast, chatting about their latest project, The Rip. During the conversation, host Kevin McCarthy mentioned catching a 70 mm screening of Lawrence of Arabia, which had been organised by Sony’s Tom Rothman for his family at the studio lot. Damon chimed in, saying he’d also seen the film, but thanks to a different connection—Tom Holland had arranged a special screening for the entire Odyssey cast.

Damon couldn’t resist taking the mickey out of Holland’s status at Sony, joking that Holland basically runs the place because he’s Spider-Man. He said,

So Tom Holland, when we were shooting The Odyssey, arranged [the screening]. Cuz Tom Holland runs that studio. He’s Spider-Man. And so he called Tom Rothman and on a Sunday we went down and screened it.

Affleck had a laugh at Damon’s quip, admitting he missed out on the screening due to work commitments. Damon and McCarthy then swapped stories about their experiences watching the classic epic in 70 mm.

How Tom Holland Became Sony’s Golden Boy

It’s hard to believe now, but Sony nearly passed on casting Tom Holland as their new Spider-Man. According to Marvel directors Anthony and Joe Russo, the studio hesitated over Holland’s age, dragging their feet before finally agreeing. The Russos recalled,

We talked with Feige at Marvel about Holland and he got excited and then we went to Sony. And they were like, ‘Let’s think about it for a minute.’

Eventually, Sony relented, and the decision paid off. Holland’s take on the web-slinger quickly won over Marvel fans, but things nearly unravelled after his second outing in the suit.

In 2019, Sony and Marvel had to renegotiate their partnership, leading to some tense moments. Reports say Holland played a crucial role in smoothing things over, personally reaching out to both Sony’s Tom Rothman and Disney’s Bob Iger to help broker a new deal. As one account put it,

[Holland] made multiple appeals to Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger and Sony film chairman Tom Rothman to reach a resolution. […]He leaned on Rothman to re-engage with Disney (the actor was able to leverage his clout because he also is set to star in Sony’s Uncharted) and also surprisingly reached out to Iger, beseeching one of Hollywood’s most powerful executives to return to the table.

Sony listened, especially after Holland’s first two films raked in $2 billion at the box office. The result: a third and now a fourth Spider-Man film, with No Way Home alone pulling in $1.9 billion worldwide.

Box Office Success and What’s Next

Here’s a quick look at how Holland’s Spider-Man films have performed:

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017): $880 million, Rotten Tomatoes 92%, IMDb 7.4/10
Spider-Man: Far from Home (2019): $1.13 billion, Rotten Tomatoes 91%, IMDb 7.3/10
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021): $1.91 billion, Rotten Tomatoes 93%, IMDb 8.2/10

The fourth film, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, is currently in production and set to hit cinemas on 31 July 2026, just a fortnight after Holland’s other big release, The Odyssey.

On Set with Matt Damon and Tom Holland

In The Odyssey, Damon takes on the role of Odysseus, while Holland plays Telemachus. The cast is packed with big names like Charlize Theron, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Jon Bernthal, and Elliot Page. Holland described working on the film as

the job of a lifetime. The best experience I’ve had on the film set. Incredible. It was exciting. It was different. And I think the movie is going to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

He also spoke about his admiration for Damon and Hathaway, saying,

Matt Damon has always been a hero of mine, Anne Hathaway has always been a hero of mine. So to share scenes with them, to learn from them, to become friends with them, I couldn’t have asked for a better job.

The Odyssey, shot in Morocco and Sicily, marks Nolan’s return to Universal after the success of Oppenheimer. Punters are keen to see if it lives up to the hype when it lands in cinemas on 17 July 2026.