Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has stormed the global box office with a record-breaking opening weekend of $264.1 million (£196.9 million), delivering a decisive blow to the 'anti-woke' movement that had targeted the film for months. Despite coordinated criticism from figures including Elon Musk, who called the casting of Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy an insult to Homer's legacy, the epic has become Nolan's biggest opening ever and one of the year's most anticipated releases.
Record-breaking debut silences critics
The film's financial success, combined with near-universal critical acclaim, has undercut the narrative that 'woke' casting would lead to commercial failure. The backlash, largely driven by social media users who had not seen the film, focused on Nyong'o's casting as the mythical Helen—a character who, in Greek mythology, was born from an egg after Zeus raped her mortal mother while disguised as a swan. Critics argue that objections to a Black actress playing a fictional figure are rooted in racism rather than fidelity to the source material.
Musk, who has used his platform X to amplify complaints, specifically attacked Nyong'o's role and questioned the masculinity of trans star Elliot Page, who appears as Sinon—a character adapted from Virgil's Aeneid, not Achilles as Musk speculated. He also called historian Tom Holland a 'cuck' after Holland praised the film, apparently confusing the historian with the actor of the same name who co-stars in the movie.
Ignorance of source material exposed
Critics of the film have pointed to Wolfgang Petersen's 2004 Troy as a superior adaptation, but that film also took major liberties, including killing off key characters whose deaths would collapse subsequent Greek myths. Nolan himself dismissed pre-release complaints from Musk, MAGA pundits, and even archaeologists as 'irrelevant because no one having them knows what the film is yet'.
The director's confidence has been vindicated. The film's cast includes Matt Damon as Odysseus, with a stunt double described as having 'the greatest arms' Damon had ever seen—a detail that undercuts Musk's complaints about masculinity. The movie also features Robert Pattinson as Antinous, a villain invented for the adaptation.
Cultural debate continues
While some Greek viewers expressed disappointment over the lack of ethnic Greek representation in the cast, the broader conversation has shifted toward the film's artistic merits. As one classics graduate noted, 'adaptations are a matter of personal interpretation, not a nefarious globalist agenda'. The film's success is expected to revive the sword-and-sandal genre, offering new opportunities for storytellers who genuinely care about Odysseus and his world.
The Odyssey is now playing in cinemas worldwide.
