It’s only been a little more than a week since the release of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and leaks of pirated films have already been circulating across social media.
Most recently, a lower-quality version was posted on X Sunday morning, but was pulled down roughly two hours later, only after garnering nearly 50,000 views. “This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner,” a message later read on the post.
On Saturday, a reportedly higher-quality version of the movie was also making its rounds on X, collecting millions of views and thousands of reposts before it was taken down and the account was suspended. “Someone upload ‘The Odyssey’ full movie on X. Can you believe it?” one person wrote on the social platform after resharing the pirated films.
Amid the ongoing issue, Universal Pictures wrote in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “We became aware of the unauthorized posting of the film and immediately initiated takedown protocols. We take copyright infringement seriously and will pursue all appropriate remedies to protect our content and intellectual property rights.”
With a highly anticipated blockbuster like The Odyssey, a bootleg of the film is to be expected and something that studios often prepare for ahead of a film’s wide release.
In addition to chasing down individual links and posts, studios will also look to combat large-scale piracy happening across the broader ecosystem. As for pirated films appearing on social platforms, the time it takes for the content to be taken down varies by company, with X, owned by Elon Musk, being known to be difficult to work with on requests.
Despite the pirated films, The Odyssey is still dominating at the box office, sailing past $600 million globally in its second weekend.
The film, based on Homer’s ancient Greek poem, follows King Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) dangerous voyage back to Ithaca after the Trojan War, including battles with mythical creatures, as he attempts to reunite with his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and son, Telemachus (Tom Holland). The film also stars Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Mia Goth, Corey Hawkins, Jon Bernthal, Samantha Morton, Travis Scott and Benny Safdie.