Millions Watched a High-Quality ‘The Odyssey’ Leak on X Before It Vanished
A high-quality bootleg of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” briefly spread across X, reaching millions of viewers before it was taken down.
The leak appeared on July 25 after a post on X drew attention to a video that claimed to be the full movie. According to Variety, the post was sharing a link from a now-suspended account that had uploaded a high-quality copy of the film. Within just a few hours, the post gained more than 2.1 million views before the video was removed.
The situation moved quickly. By the time many users tried to access the leaked version, the video had already been replaced with a copyright takedown notice. The account that originally shared the film was also suspended shortly afterward.
Despite the sudden spread of the bootleg, there are no signs that the leak has damaged the movie’s theatrical performance. “The Odyssey” continues to perform strongly at the box office, earning another $87 million during its second weekend in theaters. The film’s popularity has also kept demand high for premium screenings, especially IMAX 70 mm showings, which remain one of the biggest attractions for fans wanting to experience Nolan’s latest project on the biggest possible screen.
As of July 26, some copies claiming to be “The Odyssey” were still appearing on X, but many of them were fake. Users searching for the film were often being tricked by renamed files that actually contained unrelated videos. Some posts used the classic internet prank known as a Rickroll, sending viewers to Rick Astley’s 1987 music video “Never Gonna Give You Up” instead of the movie.
Universal Pictures confirmed that it was aware of the leak and had already started responding. In a statement shared with Variety, the studio said, “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.”
The leak comes as “The Odyssey” remains one of the biggest movie events of the year. The Christopher Nolan adaptation of Homer’s ancient epic has attracted huge audiences despite its long runtime and unusual subject matter for a major Hollywood release.
The situation has also gained attention because of comments from X owner Elon Musk, who has publicly discussed the film. Musk criticized some of the casting choices and questioned recent Academy Awards diversity requirements, writing, “Who specifically is the asshole who added DEI lies to Academy Awards eligibility instead of it just being about making the best movie?”
Musk later said his AI tool Grok Imagine would create a version of the story that he described as a “historically accurate” adaptation to release this year.
Would a leak like this affect your decision to watch The Odyssey in theaters?
For now, the official version of “The Odyssey” remains in theaters, where audiences continue to choose the big-screen experience over the leaked copy that briefly took over social media.
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