‘The Odyssey’ Backlash Failed Tremendously
Despite a coordinated online boycott campaign by right-wing critics, Christopher Nolan's film 'The Odyssey' is performing well at the box office. The backlash, which focused on casting choices and perceived 'woke' themes, has failed to impact the film's commercial success or critical reception.
Why it matters
This highlights the growing disconnect between online 'culture war' movements and actual consumer behavior in the film industry.
I arrived to find clusters of idlers in “NOLAN” sweatshirts and Letterboxd dad hats shifting their weight, grousing outside the theater. The power had gone out. And the 8 am screening of The Odyssey would have to be cancelled. Stressed out employees manually jotted down ticket numbers in order to issue refunds (when the computers were back up and running), and handed out vouchers, apologetically. Filmgoers groaned about not being able to see the film—in its intended format, at the earliest possible time—and about wasting a day’s worth of PTO. A thought crossed my mind: Maybe it was sabotage?
While the article critiques the boycott movement, it provides evidence of the film's success and reports on the nature of the backlash objectively.
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