Elon Musk has claimed that Grok will make an AI movie of The Odyssey “that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” by the end of 2026. He did not make any claim about whether it would be any good.
Musk made the prediction while retweeting a 3-minute, AI-generated video of The Odyssey. “Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer,” Musk said.
Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer https://t.co/bVHzUmY9WN
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2026
Musk’s comment here comes as little surprise, given the X and Tesla owner was a vocal critic of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in the run up to its release in theaters. Much of the online backlash, such as it is, revolved around conservative complaints that Nolan’s The Odyssey would be “woke” for starring transgender actor Elliot Page (Sinon), rapper Travis Scott (the Bard), and black actress Lupita Nyong’o (Helen of Troy and her sister, Clytemnestra).
“This is a mythological story,” Nyong’o said in May. “I’m very supportive of Chris’ intention with it and with the version of this story that he is telling. Our cast is representative of the world. I’m not spending my time thinking of a defense. The criticism will exist whether I engage with it or not.”
She added: “It’s quite something to be a part of The Odyssey, because it is so grand. It spans worlds. So that’s why the cast is what it is. We’re occupying the epic narrative of our time.”
Based on the AI video he has retweeted, Musk would consider an all-white version of The Odyssey to be “historically accurate and true to the art of Homer.” British accents seem okay, though.
Ahead of release, The Odyssey was debated across the internet for its casting choices, some of its armor design, and the decision to have its characters speak with contemporary dialogue and in mostly modern American accents. High-profile Greek translators have said they do not take issue with any of that. Rather, their gripes revolve around some of the character and story changes Nolan has made.
Prof Daniel Mendelsohn, whose translation of Homer’s poem was published last year, said at the UK’s Hay Festival in May that he was amused by “all of these bros suddenly worrying about Greek literature”. According to a report in The Telegraph, Mendelsohn said: “What’s so funny is that Helen has the tiniest role in The Odyssey… so the debate is particularly silly.”
Nolan himself will likely be unbothered by Musk and any threat from AI to The Odyssey. His adaptation blew away box office expectations with an opening weekend that brought home an incredible $264.064 million worldwide. The split puts the adaptation at a domestic haul of $124.5 million, with international markets accounting for the other $139.564 million. The global total marks Nolan’s biggest box office opening weekend ever, towering over his previous achievements, including The Dark Knight Rises at $249 million and The Dark Knight at $198 million.
The Odyssey is also critically acclaimed, with a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, and a 97% rating on its Popcornmeter. IGN’s The Odyssey review returned an 8/10. We said: “The Odyssey adapts Homer through a new eye that brings a sense of horror and existential angst to the story – and some humor too. It may not be a perfect movie, but it’s a pretty great moviegoing experience all the same.”
Director Ash Koosha recently raised eyebrows for releasing a teaser for Odysseus: The Fall, another take on The Odyssey made entirely by AI. Nolan, meanwhile, has dismissed the tech. “The interesting thing with AI is I’ve never seen a technology that’s been so successfully adopted by Wall Street and by investors and by tech companies that the public has so thoroughly rejected,” he told AFP in Paris.
“It’s just sort of an odd thing. Young people in particular, they coined this term ‘AI slop’,” he added. “There’s a sort of disdain for things AI.”
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
