Elon Musk has vowed that his AI platform Grok will produce “a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer” before the end of the year — a challenge issued on Wednesday as Christopher Nolan’s version of the same story was breaking box office records across three continents.
Musk’s post was accompanied by a three-minute AI-generated short that a follower had created using Grok Imagine. The content of both the short and Musk’s campaign against Nolan’s film has centred consistently on casting — specifically the decision to cast Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and, in a separate controversy based on inaccurate rumours, the alleged casting of trans actor Elliot Page as Achilles. Page does not play Achilles in the film. He plays Sinon, a Greek soldier drawn from Virgil’s Aeneid, not Homer’s poem.
Musk’s commentary on The Odyssey dates to January, when reports of Nyong’o’s casting first circulated. In May, he agreed with a post from Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh that framed the casting as racial hypocrisy, writing “Absolutely true. Such hypocrisy in Hollywood.” His response to the Page rumours was more forceful: “One of the dumbest and most twisted things I’ve ever heard.” Musk has a transgender daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, who has publicly cut ties with him following what she has described as his transphobic behaviour.
Nolan’s response to the controversy — generated entirely before anyone outside a small group of critics had seen the film — was brief. “These conversations that happen before people see the film — they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet,” he said.
What the Box Office Says
The film has not suffered. The Odyssey opened to $124.5 million in North America across 3,900 screens over the weekend, earning an A CinemaScore from audiences — the second-highest grade possible. Globally, the film collected $264.1 million, adding $139.6 million from 73 international markets. That worldwide opening surpasses The Dark Knight Rises‘ $249 million global launch in 2012 — making it Nolan’s biggest worldwide opening of all time.
Among all films released in 2026, only Toy Story 5 ($159 million domestic opening) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131 million) have debuted above it. The Odyssey is now the top R-rated opening of the year and Universal’s highest-ever weekend launch for an R-rated film. It is also the only major live-action film to debut above $100 million this year.
The film was shot entirely on IMAX cameras — a first in cinema history — and used minimal CGI, characteristics that have driven frenzy for premium screenings and helped sustain the event-cinema atmosphere that Nolan’s productions reliably generate. Musk’s AI-generated short, shot on no cameras and composed entirely of synthesised imagery, offers a useful point of comparison.
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