Elon Musk's failed attempt to counter Nolan's Odyssey

After months of repeated criticism of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, Elon Musk announced on X that he intends to produce, before the end of the year, his own version of Homer's poem, entirely generated by his artificial intelligence, Grok Imagine, presenting it as historically faithful to the original work. The announcement sparked a wave of online mockery rather than the hoped-for enthusiasm.

An open animosity since the beginning of the year

The billionaire has been criticizing the director's casting choices since January, particularly the presence of actress Lupita Nyong'o as Helen of Troy and transgender actor Elliot Page as Sinon, going so far as to accuse Christopher Nolan of having lost his artistic integrity. Several public figures, including American television host Sunny Hostin on ABC, have called these remarks racist.

Released on July 17, The Odyssey has nevertheless met with critical and commercial success that these attacks have not diminished, with more than $250 million in worldwide revenue in its first weekend and an A rating in the Cinemascore, the best opening of the year for a live-action film according to several American specialized media.

A project ridiculed even in its principle

Many internet users pointed out the inconsistency of Elon Musk's project, given that Homer's Odyssey is a 2,800-year-old work of fiction populated by sirens, a cyclops, and a sorceress who transforms warriors into pigs, making any claim to historical accuracy inherently impossible. Others noted that an AI-generated adaptation had already been released online a few days earlier and widely mocked, arriving too late to compete with anything.

When questioned by the Telegraph about the criticisms leveled at his film, Christopher Nolan for his part brushed aside the controversy before its release, believing that this type of debate occurring before the public had even seen the film remained by nature pointless, since no one yet knew its real content.