A 21-Year-Old Historical War Epic Is Suddenly Storming Streaming Charts and Christopher Nolan Might Be Responsible
Sometimes it takes a brand-new blockbuster to send audiences scrambling back toward an old one, and this summer has delivered a particularly striking example of that phenomenon. When a filmmaker with the pull of Christopher Nolan tackles ancient mythology, the ripple effects don’t stay confined to his own box office numbers.
That’s precisely what’s playing out on Apple TV’s movie charts right now. A 2004 historical epic starring Brad Pitt has climbed to number two on the platform’s Top 10 Movies list, sitting just behind fellow survival thriller ‘Mayday’ and ahead of newer titles like ‘F1’ and ‘War of the Worlds’. It’s an unusual spot for a film over two decades old to occupy, especially one that spent 42 days steadily building momentum on the chart.
The film in question is ‘Troy’, Wolfgang Petersen’s sprawling retelling of the Trojan War, and its resurgence traces directly back to Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’. Since Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic poem hit theaters, it has immediately become the movie of the summer, reportedly heading toward an estimated $84.5 million second weekend that would mark the biggest of the director’s career. That success has sparked renewed curiosity about other cinematic takes on Greek mythology, with ‘Troy’ emerging as the obvious companion piece.
The numbers back up just how dramatic that spillover effect has been. As of late July, ‘Troy’ was sitting at number seven on IMDb’s list of most popular movies and number thirteen on the film-logging app Letterboxd, with ‘The Odyssey’ topping both charts. On Reddit, fans have reportedly been actively encouraging ‘The Odyssey’ viewers to revisit ‘Troy’, with some even arguing it holds up better than Nolan’s new blockbuster.
Streaming data tells a similar story. According to FlixPatrol figures cited by Game Rant, ‘Troy’ has been soaring across platforms once again, with the outlet crediting ‘The Odyssey’ as the likely catalyst behind the sudden spike in viewership for a film that was famously divisive when it first hit theaters in 2004.
That divisiveness never stopped ‘Troy’ from becoming a commercial success, and it’s worth remembering just how big of a swing the film represented at the time. Made on a reported budget between $150 and $175 million, the film eventually grossed $497.4 million worldwide, cementing Brad Pitt’s Achilles, Eric Bana’s Hector, and Orlando Bloom’s Paris as enduring figures in the sword-and-sandal genre despite mixed critical reception on release.
The cast’s staying power has only added fuel to the film’s second act. Eric Bana has continued working steadily since, including a return to his role as Aaron Falk in ‘Force of Nature: The Dry 2’, while Diane Kruger and Rose Byrne have each built substantial careers well beyond their time in ancient Troy. That continued relevance makes the film an easy sell for viewers hunting for their next mythology fix after leaving the theater.
Whether this streaming spike proves temporary or signals a longer rediscovery period remains to be seen, but for now, ‘Troy’ is proof that a big new theatrical swing can send audiences straight back to the source material that inspired it. Nolan may have set out to tell Odysseus’s story, but he’s ended up sending people to Achilles’ instead.
