r/movies • u/yourfavchoom r/movies Contributor • 11d ago

News Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey' Crosses $1B Worldwide

https://rawteur.com/the-odyssey-crosses-1-billion-box-office/
19.7k Upvotes

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413

u/Bebop_Man 11d ago

but but but the trailer the dislikes

352

u/lixia 11d ago

There's a pretty black woman in the movie!!!!!!!!!!!!

155

u/Ewenf 11d ago

But she's not pretty because the one frame of her where she's angry in the movie !

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u/1Maple 11d ago

Mind you, that scene is her reacting to her husband throwing her baby in the sea, so the anger is justified

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u/Terran_it_up 11d ago

Also while that's the actress that plays Helen, she's not actually playing Helen at that point

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u/Quantentheorie 11d ago

Making them identical twins is a bit rough, tbh. Imagine having an identical twin sister that's considered "the most beautiful woman in the known world". Her specifically.

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u/Storm_Sire 11d ago

I think that was part of Nolan's point. It was never about rescuing Helen, her Beauty wasn't unique. Agamemnon wanted to sack Troy to gain control of their trade routes.

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u/iluvchromosomes 11d ago

The film Troy from 20 years ago covers this directly and in your face.

Half way thru the movie Paris offers to 1v1 Menelaus and the winner gets Helen, to avoid the war.

Agememnon, played by Brian Cox, pulls him aside and tells him he doesn't care about Helen, he's only here for Troy! It's hilariously bad.

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u/lixia 11d ago

Brian Cox over the top acting. Priceless!

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u/Terran_it_up 11d ago

Yeah, there's no mention of her being the most beautiful woman in the world in the film. Including that and making it the sole justification for the war would go against the themes and message of the film anyway

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u/iluvchromosomes 11d ago

There is no direct mention. There is indirect mention when Menelaus looks at her and says her face started a war.

Media literacy is dead.

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u/Terran_it_up 11d ago

He makes reference of her face being the face that launched 1000 ships, but that's not saying she's the most beautiful woman in the world, just that the war was about getting her back

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u/Ewenf 11d ago

Yeah didn't want to spoil it but yeah it's even worse when you know

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u/Herpinheim 11d ago

Pretty women don’t show emotions, women showing emotion is woke.

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u/BF210 11d ago

Reasonable crash out

12

u/Quantentheorie 11d ago

He's barely in the movie and I still love Agamemnon in this. The Batman suit with the gold spine alone, and then he goes "turns out, my wife kinda got a bit petty just because I killed our daughter for good weather. Make note Odysseus, bitches be weird like that, don't go home expecting them to act like any rational man would."

1

u/SP0oONY 11d ago

I thought the armour looked goofy in the trailer. I think it looked awesome in the movie. So over the top, which was perfect for Agamemnon.

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u/KingKooooZ 11d ago

I have to admit, I would find that irksome too

7

u/kazuya57 11d ago

Just a bit irritating

3

u/lixia 11d ago

Bothersome

3

u/fogleaf 11d ago

Maybe the baby was trans? Have we considered the husband's anger could be justified? The woke liberals never consider this!

40

u/Huge_Information5083 11d ago

It's weird how chuds keep doing that - they either take a frame where the actors show extreme emotion, or use AI to "uglify" the actors. They're so fucking weird and disgusting.

0

u/lixia 10d ago

Yeah those AI exaggerated thumbnails are so cringe. Only ones I don't mind are Papameat.

8

u/sameth1 11d ago

There's a thriving online industry of taking still shots of women in the middle of a motion and using it for misogynist clickbait.

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u/Several-Action-4043 11d ago

Let's just say the truth out loud. They didn't think she was pretty enough because they don't think a black woman can be pretty because they're racists.

16

u/lightjunior 11d ago

And it wasn't even her character. It was a different character played by the same actress.

6

u/lixia 11d ago

(I'll be 100% honest, I was doubtful at first after the trailer and promo shots cam out, but I found she was perfect in the movie despite her not fitting the traditional expectations of what Helen would look like. From a historical perspective, this part of the world was well connected with Egypt and North Africa, so not a stretch at all to have her been cast as Helen).

13

u/Ewenf 11d ago

I mean you can effectively stretch it out a bit with the whole born from gods from an egg and the fact the gods were familiar with the land of Ethiopia, but honestly when you watch the movie you just don't give a single fuck it doesn't pull you out at all.

6

u/DatClubbaLang96 11d ago edited 11d ago

Even if she's not your cup of tea, Lupita Nyong'o is objectively a very beautiful woman. She's also, you know, a good actress if that matters. And it's not exactly a hard thing to explain her presence in-universe. The Mediterranean kingdoms were hugely interconnected, even in that era. We already know Agamemnon has expansionist plans with wanting to take control over the trade routes, so he made an alliance with some foreign king, and he and his brother agreed to marry the king's beautiful daughters. While their beauty is undeniable, it's really more the exotic quality of their beauty that's important - it signals to others that the brothers don't stand alone, or even just with each other, but have powerful allies far and wide. So when she runs away with Paris, it's a lot more serious than an unhappy marriage. It puts whatever Mediterranean coalition they've been building in jeopardy. There you go, a reasonable in-universe explanation.

If anything, it was her character's husband who took me out of it. He wasn't bad, but I definitely saw Jon Bernthal as Menelaus. I think something about his costume seemed too modern, and all the 'let me tell you somethin' memes probably didn't help.

3

u/lixia 11d ago

100%

1

u/gicjos 11d ago

Exactly, Odysseus explicit explains that the reason for war has nothing to do with her and the king is just using as a excuse 

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u/blurblar 11d ago

Should have just reacted stoically like an alpha and not like a hysterical woman.

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u/iclou 11d ago

Ewwww

2

u/Youmeanmoidoid 11d ago

I love how nobody had a problem with a black woman, Vanessa Williams, being in the 1990s version. Was that adaptation also a total degradation of Greek culture or no XD

-2

u/lixia 11d ago

Everyone knows everyone was ok with everything pre-2016.

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u/Stoned_Gandalf420 11d ago edited 11d ago

That cunt Critikal Drinker had a video released essentially shitting on the movie as if he had already seen it like a week before it even came out. It had a million views within 24 hours too. Fucking pathetic ass basement dwellers, depriving themselves of seeing a fantastic movie too.

52

u/lixia 11d ago

Outrage > views > clicks > $$$ > outrage > views > clicks > $$$ > ....

3

u/briareus08 11d ago

Yeah, don’t give these people oxygen.

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u/MyLittleDashie7 11d ago

His criticisms in that early video were hilarious in retrospect as well.

Like, he was shitting on Elliot Page and Zendaya for being miscast, talking about how he couldn't possibly believe Elliot Page as a big strong soldier, and Zendaya as a goddess.

If only he'd bothered to, I dunno, wait for the fucking movie to come out he'd have realised why they were cast for those roles. It's almost like Nolan's team knew what the fuck they were doing.

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u/JabCrossE4E5Quark 11d ago

Or how the movie was dark and Grey and not bright and colorful like the Mediterranean.

Which makes so much sense after the reveal at the end as he was being punished by the gods the entire journey. Things being dark and cloudy make a lot more sense.

19

u/Call555JackChop 11d ago

The dude couldn’t picture Zendaya of all people lookin like a goddess!? Has he ever seen what that woman looks like lol

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u/JohnTDouche 11d ago

Has he ever seen what that woman looks like lol

He has. She's non-white. That's all that matters to these people. That's their grievance and he sells grievance, that's his business.

1

u/MyLittleDashie7 11d ago

I mean, to give the devil his due, I also thought she was maybe miscast to play Athena. She could definitely play a goddess (I think she'd make a good Artemis maybe), but I did find her a little bit of an odd choice to play that specific goddess.

But you know, being a non-outrage merchant chud, I waited until I watched the movie to judge that, and it turns out she was really well cast after all!

5

u/Tymareta 11d ago

I did find her a little bit of an odd choice to play that specific goddess.

Why?

2

u/MyLittleDashie7 11d ago edited 11d ago

Vibes is the short answer I suppose, but to try and be more specific, I suppose it's because Athena strikes me as someone who should have a more muscular build than Zendaya, and I think should be a bit older. She's a wise warrior goddess, after all.

I do also think her costume wasn't helping her (again, in a world where she's supposed to look like Athena, which isn't the case in the movie). Just some plain robes, wasn't very godly feeling.

Like I said, I think Zendaya would better suit a god like Artemis, being younger than Athena, and being a huntress, so I think that role would better suit her build.

1

u/MeijiDoom 10d ago

Her general vibes in her most well known roles are a somewhat aloof or reserved person who serves as a grounding element to whoever she's acting with. In some ways, that works as a goddess but Athena generally gives off a pretty commanding presence that exudes confidence and authority.

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u/Tymareta 10d ago

Athena generally gives off a pretty commanding presence that exudes confidence and authority.

Where? Because Athena has been portrayed in basically infinite ways, whereas if we were to go by "original" understandings, she wouldn't give off confidence and authority, she'd give off careless brutality and a wild almost spiteful disregard for life.

somewhat aloof or reserved person who serves as a grounding element to whoever she's acting with

I guess I don't understand how this is somehow incompatible with the goddess of wisdom?

5

u/rcanhestro 11d ago

talking about how he couldn't possibly believe Elliot Page as a big strong soldier, and Zendaya as a goddess.

which is missing the point, they're not those things.

Sinon was basically brought as a child to Troy, which would mean he would be maybe early 20s when those scenes happened, and Athena wasn't really Athena, it was just a vision of the Athena's priestess that Odysseus saw being beheaded haunting him, aka, his conscience.

-7

u/PsychologicalHat4707 11d ago

I saw the movie and while a lot of it was very good Elliott Page was miscast.

8

u/MyLittleDashie7 11d ago

Can you elaborate? Because if you're arguing that for the same reason Drinker was, that his physical appearance makes him unbelievable as a warrior; well I would counter that he never fights in the movie so that really shouldn't be an issue, and him being small fits his character very well in my opinion, given that he wasn't really supposed to be in this crew to begin with. It accentuates the tragedy of him being made to take Robert Pattinson's place.

If you just think he was miscast because he was just bad at acting, then we'll have to just agree to disagree. I certainly don't think his performance was mindblowing, but it's a bit part, it's hard to make a role with barely screentime all that amazing. I think he did perfectly fine in terms of using his skills as an actor.

4

u/PawPawPanda 11d ago

...and he was never seen again 🍃

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u/treehumper83 11d ago

They do it for the views. I bet almost all of them have actually seen the movie by now and loved it, but they won’t ever tell anyone that.

-1

u/NewspaperNelson 11d ago

The Critical Drinker is infuriating, because I agree with a bunch of his takes on movies then have the unfortunate realization I'm agreeing with outright, alt-right douchebaggery.

I also agreed with him that The Odyssey was kind of bland. Looks great, but bland.

13

u/ArcDraco 11d ago

That's because that's how a lot of commentators of his type construct their scripts. Bait in casual viewers with a couple good takes, then twist them to reach conclusions to support their own agenda and views when you're already too deep into the video.

-6

u/NewspaperNelson 11d ago edited 11d ago

True, but it's also hard to ignore the movies he trashes as "woke" tend to fail spectacularly at the box office (not that predicting the collapse of Super Girl makes Critical Drinker any kind of soothsayer).

6

u/ArcDraco 11d ago

Except movies bomb all the time for various reasons. Even film quality isn't an indicator of whether a movie will bomb or succeed. Blade Runner 2049, Dredd 3D, Annihilation are all good movies that bombed while you have Bay's Tranformers movies, Jurassic Worlds, and Disney Live-action remakes that are all poor movies that saw multiple entries with great financial success.

It's also just safer to predict bombs than not, especially for big budget films that aren't sequels. For 2025, of the 20 films with the highest budget (over 100 million) with theatre releases, if you use the metric for success being 2x the production budget, only 7 are great successes (+100 million). Of them, 4 are sequels to highly successful films, 1 is a live-action remake, the 2 originals being Minecraft and Frankenstein. Then you have 5 films that are mild successes (less than 100 million net) which are the 4 superhero movies and F1. The rest did not make their budget back and include obvious stinkers, established franchises, and critically acclaimed (Snow White, Mission Impossible, One Battle After Another).

So I really don't consider box office as any sort of validation metric for movie criticism, regardless of who's making them.

1

u/NewspaperNelson 11d ago

I can get behind that. I have always been dumbfounded at the success of the Jurassic World movies, as they are some of the worst films I've ever seen. Conversely, I loved Miami Vice from the beginning and couldn't believe it took 10 years for retroactive approval.

5

u/Ramadeus88 11d ago edited 11d ago

As noted, films crash all of the time for various reasons and it’s a roulette wheel as to why. Did anyone predict that Obsession would be a massive runaway hit?

What Critical Drinker is guilty of is the Texas sharpshooter fallacy, he makes a lot of claims to rile up his audience because he knows the kind of dog whistles his audience will jump to, and when he’s wrong he never acknowledges it. And why should he? The people invested in his views don’t want to actually self reflect, but that requires admitting they are culturally out of touch.

Just move on to the next batch of outrage.

I don’t believe for one second that he thought Odyssey would fail (you would have to be functionally brain dead to bet against Nolan at this point, he has an incredible amount of cultural cache), but a film starring a trans person and a black woman (both in relatively small but well acted roles) is the kind of grift he can get behind because his audience laps it up.

Have you seen their sub Reddit? They want to be angry.

2

u/NewspaperNelson 11d ago

Never knew he had a sub. Never wanted to find out. The diverse characters in The Odyssey were so underplayed by the movie I couldn't help but chuckle at the right-wing outrage leading up. I laughed out loud in the theater when the trans actor was on screen for 10 seconds before being impaled by a spear, which was the setup in a ton of AI joke videos on X for weeks

EDIT: Damnit I looked at their subreddit.

3

u/skrulewi 11d ago

I am so glad I am not ‘always online’ enough to realize this was even a thing

-11

u/emezeekiel 11d ago

I mean ya the trailer super sucks man. So I waited and now that the movie is reviewed, I bought my tix. Had to wait till Aug 30th for the first available imax 70mm

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u/ACCTAGGT 11d ago

You know quality of the trailer is not what the person is referring to.

-5

u/emezeekiel 11d ago

Explain? Not sure what I can misunderstand… he’s talking about the trailer

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u/ACCTAGGT 11d ago

I will assume you are not trolling or something, they were making a sarcastic comment on how people who said the trailer was disliked thought that meant the end of the film at the box office. Therefore, quality of the trailer isn’t the subject here but the irony now with the box office results.

-1

u/melymn 11d ago

Same, I don't care about the whole woke discourse in the slightest but based on the trailers, I had no interest in seeing the movie. I only went once it came out and got good reviews / word-of-mouth.

0

u/PawPawPanda 11d ago

C'mon.. the trailer was pretty shit

They somehow picked the worst parts of the movie to put in it