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‘Meaningless as a laptop screensaver’: reviewers slate Musk’s AI-made Odyssey film

Elon Musk has released an AI-generated rival to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey after pledging to make a version “true to the art of Homer”. Having criticised the hit movie in the summer, the tycoon said he would use Grok Imagine to make a “historically accurate” adaptation. The initial results have been released on X in the form of a seven-minute episode made in conjunction with Wonder Studios, a London-based startup. Musk had objected to Nolan’s casting choices – such as black actor Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 42/100 — News report · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2286· cite & verify
‘Meaningless as a laptop screensaver’: reviewers slate Musk’s AI-made Odyssey film

In brief

Elon Musk released the first seven-minute episode of an AI-generated Odyssey adaptation on X, made with Grok Imagine and London startup Wonder Studios. It follows his criticism of Christopher Nolan's summer film and his pledge to make a version true to Homer.

The episode shows how cheaply and quickly AI tools can produce long-form video, but early critical reception suggests quality and storytelling remain weak. Whether later episodes improve, as the studio promises, is still unknown, and views are not the same as approval.

Main points

  1. The first episode runs seven minutes and was released on the Grok Imagine X account.
  2. Wonder Studios says a team of three, including director Dev Walker, made it in less than two weeks.
  3. Nolan's version cost $250m, took 91 days to shoot and has earned $1.8bn at the box office.
  4. Wonder says it received no anti-woke direction; its brief was to help understand the technology's strengths and weaknesses.
  5. Wonder has also worked with Google DeepMind on an AI video for a Lewis Capaldi track.

The problem

Reviewers judged the Grok Imagine episode poor, with one star from the Guardian and complaints of motiveless drama, sloppy visuals, and historically inaccurate boats and rapid pacing.

The rundown

Musk had criticised Nolan's casting choices and promised a historically accurate AI version of the poem before year end. He is now releasing it in episodes rather than as a single full-length movie.

The episode covers Odysseus's decision to join the Greek forces, his sailing from Ithaca, ten years of fighting, and an ending with a wooden horse figurine.

Critics were harsh: Peter Bradshaw gave one star, and a Telegraph reviewer described the visuals as sloppy. Wonder co-founder Xavier Collins said the team will review comments and aims for the last episode to be radically better than the first.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-10-27

The debate