All posts tagged: The Odyssey

Disney Almost Made The Odyssey Into A Film Years Before Christopher Nolan

Disney Almost Made The Odyssey Into A Film Years Before Christopher Nolan

For millions of viewers, Christopher Nolan’s movie will have been their first introduction to the epic Ancient Greek story about Odysseus’ heroic journey home to his beloved wife Penelope at the end of the Trojan war. And while The Odyssey has been adapted for the screen on numerous occasions in the past, what you might realise is that, at one point, Disney looked poised to have a go at it. The story goes that, at the cusp of Disney’s so-called “Renaissance” towards the end of the 20th century – which saw the studio achieving renewed success thanks to films like The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King – execs gathered the creative team for a series of so-called “Gong Show” pitch meetings. In these quick fire meetings, writers and animators had a short amount of time to pitch their ideas for stories, many of which would then be greenlit. One of these meetings saw a Disney-fied version of The Odyssey being put forward as an idea, with the company going …

Elliot Page Not Getting Many Offers After ‘The Odyssey’ Role

Elliot Page Not Getting Many Offers After ‘The Odyssey’ Role

Elliot Page isn’t getting a flood of casting opportunities coming off his acclaimed performance in the second highest-grossing movie of the year. During an interview with On Film…With Kevin McCarthy (below), the hosted asked if Page knows what role he’s doing next and said, “I imagine you’re getting a zillion calls after this movie.” “No, Kevin, I’m not,” Page said with a laugh. “So, let’s — if someone wants to call me … “ A surprised McCarthy asked if Page really doesn’t have another job lined up. “Not really,” Page replied. “I’d really love to do good work. That’s what I’d love to do.” Page then said he is considering being more proactive about reaching out to filmmakers, noting that “I was seen in a certain way before and it is different now.” He then jokingly added, possibly referring to Trump’s current tariff battle with Canada: “I think that’s probably for pretty obvious reasons: the Canadian thing.” Page added that he feels as comfortable as ever as an actor, and noted, “I feel like I could …

Coyote vs Acme No. 2 at Box Office; Spider-Man Tops Titanic, Dog Stars

Coyote vs Acme No. 2 at Box Office; Spider-Man Tops Titanic, Dog Stars

It might not have been quite the show of emphatic box office support that Looney Tunes fans hoped to see after Coyote vs. Acme avoided becoming a Warner Bros. tax write-off, but the film managed to get rolling over the weekend to score a second-place finish behind the unstoppable Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Meanwhile, Ridley Scott‘s The Dog Stars was sent to the doghouse. Ketchup Entertainment released Coyote vs. Acme on 3,575 North American screens, with the film grossing $15.4 million for the weekend after collecting $5.3 million on Friday. Earning an A CinemaScore from audiences, the hybrid of animation and live-action stars Will Forte, Lana Condor and John Cena in the story of Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation over its faulty products. This marks the biggest debut ever for the independent distributor, topping their previous best for the Looney Tunes feature The Day the Earth Blew Up, which was originally intended for HBO Max before opening to $3.5 million in March of last year ahead of a $15 million global cume. Coyote …

Damon Lindelof Weighs In on 2026’s Adaptation Wars

Damon Lindelof Weighs In on 2026’s Adaptation Wars

If you’re terminally online, you’ve probably found yourself swept up in this year’s exhausting discourse over creative license and beloved IP. When the now well-received Lanterns premiered its official trailer earlier this year, a vocal subset of fans objected to the premise of taking the ring-powered space cops of the Green Lantern Corps and grounding these colorful, cosmic superheroes in small-town Nebraska for a desaturated, Taylor Sheridan-esque riff on True Detective. Earth’s first Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, played by Kyle Chandler, also drew criticism for being portrayed as an older, messier iteration of the most famous intergalactic peacekeeper rather than the more idealized version in his prime. Concurrently, Christopher Nolan’s modernized adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek poem, The Odyssey, endured endless kvetching prior to becoming the highest-grossing film of his storied career. Some found fault with the use of American accents instead of British ones, something Hollywood has long conditioned audiences to hear in sword-and-sandal epics. Others argued that the characters should be speaking with Greek accents or even in an ancient Greek dialect to …

Brand New Day’ Box Office Set to Beat ‘Insidious’ Sequel

Brand New Day’ Box Office Set to Beat ‘Insidious’ Sequel

Spider-Man: Brand New Day looks to continue its indefatigable run at the box office against such new challengers as horror sequel Insidious: Out of the Further and the Jason Statham-led Mutiny. Sony Pictures releases Insidious: Out of the Further in roughly 3,000 North American theaters on Friday, with the studio projecting an opening weekend around $23 million. Hailing from Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films and Blumhouse Atomic Monster, Out of the Further is the sixth title in the franchise that kicked off with 2011’s Insidious and carries an $18 million production budget. Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea and Lin Shaye star in writer-director Jacob Chase’s film that centers on a young mother who can bring spirits back with her to the real world. Out of the Further follows 2023’s Insidious: The Red Door, which saw the return of original series stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne and opened to $33 million domestically before hitting a global total of $189 million for its run. Insidious: Out of the Further holds a 65 percent approval rating from critics …

The Odyssey’s Himesh Patel Would Follow Matt Damon Into War

The Odyssey’s Himesh Patel Would Follow Matt Damon Into War

We’ve got Autumn Durald Arkapaw, recent Academy Award winner, who shot the pilot. It looks stunning. It’s what Ryan has always done: he sets a high bar. I think it’s gonna be really special. Hopefully special enough to get us a series. You’re in the biggest movie of the summer, so we’re all watching you. But what have you been watching this summer? I’ve just started Widow’s Bay, I’m four episodes in. Hiro [Murai] texted me when he saw The Odyssey and I said, “Thanks, and thanks for absolutely terrifying me shitless with that clown in episode two.” What was that?! Hiro’s so good, that balance he has between comedy and genuine horror, it’s brilliant. One minute, thinking, “That’s really creepy, and terrifying.” Next minute, I’m laughing. He’s a special guy. Matthew Rhys is great, Stephen Root, always amazing. I’m really enjoying it. Did Nolan or Coogler ask you to watch anything in preparation for your roles in their respective projects? If not, are there any films you pulled from when shaping the character or …

Third Weekend Will Top Oak Street

Third Weekend Will Top Oak Street

Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to fly high in its third weekend at the box office as it fends off newcomers The End of Oak Street and PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie. Sony Pictures‘ Brand New Day pulled in $19 million on Friday as it heads to $67 million, which will top the domestic box office for its third consecutive frame. This would bring the Tom Holland-led feature’s North American total to $782.8 million for its first 17 days to stand at No. 5 on the all-time domestic chart, just behind Avatar at $785.2 million and topping the No. 6 total of $718 million for Top Gun: Maverick. Warner Bros.’ dinosaur-centric sci-fi survival feature The End of Oak Street grossed $8.1 million on Friday, including Thursday previews, as it eyes an opening weekend around $20 million. Earning a B CinemaScore from audiences, David Robert Mitchell‘s film launched in 3,400 North American theaters and carries an $80 million production budget. Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor star in the movie about a family in the early 1980s whose …

Which Translation of The Odyssey Should You Read? A Guide

Which Translation of The Odyssey Should You Read? A Guide

There is no such thing as reading Homer. There is only reading somebody’s Homer, which means the translation of The Odyssey you pick up matters more than almost any other decision you will make about this book. The Greek has been carried into English for four centuries now, and every translator has struck a different bargain about rhythm, plainness, speed and strangeness. Choose badly for your taste and you will stall somewhere around the cattle of the Sun. Choose well and you will wonder why nobody told you a three-thousand-year-old poem could move like this. The question has stopped being academic. Christopher Nolan’s film has sent readers back to the source in numbers nobody in publishing predicted. In the week of 3 August 2026, Publishers Weekly reported that Emily Wilson’s version reached No. 2 on the overall US bestseller list, while Robert Fagles’s rival edition rose 93 per cent in a single week. Wilson’s has now passed a million copies in the US alone. So which one should you actually buy? Here is the honest …

10 Books to Read Before Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

10 Books to Read Before Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey

Film adaptations usually send a trickle of readers back to the source. Nolan’s The Odyssey has sent a flood. The numbers are genuinely unusual: Emily Wilson’s translation has passed a million US copies and reached No. 2 on the overall bestseller list, while Publishers Weekly reported Robert Fagles’s rival translation up 93 per cent and Madeline Miller’s Circe up 128 per cent in the same week. Which raises a practical question for anyone holding a ticket. The poem is long, the mythology is dense, and the film assumes a certain amount of knowledge. Here are ten books to read before Nolan’s The Odyssey, ordered by how much work each one actually does for you. The Two Essentials Before Nolan’s The Odyssey 1. The Odyssey by Homer. Obviously. The only real decision is whose English you read it in, and that decision matters more than most people expect. Wilson’s 2017 version is fast, plain and metrically disciplined, which is why it has become the default. Fagles is more theatrical. Lattimore is the most literal. We have …

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Is Now His Highest-Grossing Movie Ever

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey Is Now His Highest-Grossing Movie Ever

Christopher Nolan has conquered his previous titles with The Odyssey, as the recent Universal Pictures release is now the highest-grossing movie of the acclaimed filmmaker’s career. The studio confirmed Sunday that the mythological epic has made $1.104 billion worldwide in its first month in theaters following its initial July 17 release. This surpasses 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, which earned $1.085 billion, and 2008’s The Dark Knight at $1.005 billion, as Warner Bros.’ two Batman films had previously held the top spots on the list of the director’s biggest global sums. As of Sunday, The Odyssey has collected $461.1 million domestically and landed in second place for the weekend behind Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Starring Matt Damon as Odysseus on his arduous journey home after the Trojan War, the film also stars Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Robert Pattinson, marking the highest-grossing movie globally for Damon, Hathaway and Pattinson’s careers. Nolan and Emma Thomas produce for Syncopy. The adaptation of Homer’s ancient poem is now the second-highest-grossing R-rated film domestically and globally, behind only 2024’s …