Universal has stepped in after a high-quality upload of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey leaked on X/Twitter.
While viewers headed to theaters to catch the Greek epic on its second weekend at the box office, some stayed home to watch it instead. All two hours and 53 minutes of the blockbuster movie managed to leak onto social media over the weekend, giving thousands access to an astonishingly high-quality (but still inferior) version of the film to watch from the comfort of their homes or, god forbid, their phones.
Most, if not all, uploads across X have seemingly been removed in one way or another, with the most popular post taken down entirely. The responses to The Odyssey leak, however, remain, revealing a mix of reactions from users who were surprised to see the movie posted in its entirety with little fanfare. Others have taken the opportunity to have a bit more fun.
The Odyssey 2026 📺🎞️🎬🍿*
Rotten Tomatoes 🍅: 94%
IMDb: 8.5/10
Fantasy | Action | Adventure • pic.twitter.com/p8LFA2w6ww
— Antonio😈 (@Antonio_aj3) July 26, 2026
“Watching The Odyssey for the first time via a Twitter leak on my iPhone in a small subscreen up top while scrolling my timeline, just as Nolan intended,” one user joked.
“Gets taken down the second I start watching it,” another said with a “loudly crying” emoji.
As reported by Variety, The Odyssey leak had garnered more than 2.1 million views by the time Universal was finally able to have it taken down. Although it swiftly stepped in, it seems the posts were live long enough for people to watch huge chunks of the film.
“We became aware of the unauthorized posting of the film and immediately initiated takedown protocols,” Universal told the site in a statement. “We take copyright infringement seriously and will pursue all appropriate remedies to protect our content and intellectual property rights.”
Despite the X community getting their hands on an early upload, The Odyssey leak probably won’t do much to slow its success in theaters. Its opening weekend saw Nolan bring home his best global debut ever with a worldwide total of 264.1 million, with its second weekend already piling on even more impressive stats. Meanwhile, X overseer Elon Musk said his AI tool Grok would be able to make its own version of The Odyssey before the end of 2026. He said this AI-generated version of the story will be “historically accurate and true to the art of Homer.”
Nolan famously went to great lengths to ensure his The Odyssey would be shot entirely using Imax cameras, making this weekend’s leak even more disappointing to see. Although fans have flocked from around the country to catch it in their preferred format, Imax CEO Richard Gelfond has said building more 70mm Imax projectors is “not practical.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
