Nolan's 'The Odyssey' sparks debate and boosts Homer sales
Classicist Emily Wilson called Christopher Nolan's film "The Odyssey" gimmicky and poorly written, criticizing its character depth while acknowledging its role in reviving interest in the ancient poem, according to Yahoo. The IMAX 70mm adaptation opened worldwide to mixed scholarly and public reactions. It sparked debate over casting choices such as Lupita Nyong'o as Helen and the use of contemporary American accents, and Nolan dismissed early criticism as irrelevant.
Actor Tom Cruise praised the film after an early screening. The release drove a sharp rise in print sales and audiobook streams of Homer's Odyssey in the United States and United Kingdom, reported by the BBC, and boosted the profile of modern translations, with Emily Wilson's 2017 version reaching a million copies, as noted by the Inquirer. Greek educators highlighted the epic's long tradition of reinterpretation, and Variety observed that the movie revived the sword-and-sandal genre.