UPDATE: I’m told tracking will come out tomorrow that will contradict what Belloni/Quorum are saying. “The Odyssey” might be ahead of “Oppenheimer.” Stay tuned.
EARLIER: We might be anticipating the next few weeks of summer movies, with both Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg’s latest films obviously of high interest for readers — these are, after all, two of the biggest modern filmmaking auteurs Hollywood has to offer.
However, the latest tracking from Quorum might be worrisome, as Spielberg’s “Disclosure Day” and Nolan’s “The Odyssey” should both be of concern—especially the latter, which has the higher budget.
The latest audience tracking numbers show interest in “The Odyssey” has dropped in recent weeks by eight points, which is significant, falling from 54 to 46, according to The Quorum via Puck News.
Interest in “The Odyssey” is now at the same level as “Disclosure Day” and “Supergirl,” both of which are also not performing too strongly in tracking. In fact, “Scary Movie 6” bests all three of them by nine points, with 55 interest.
“The Odyssey,” which has been reported to have a $250M budget, is showing some signs of weakening audience momentum according to Quorum data, which has been key in measuring public interest in actually seeing upcoming movies. Then again, Quorum’s methodology is not correlative to performance.
Now, I know exactly what you’re thinking. Gee, this drop comes after weeks of controversy around Christopher Nolan’s casting decisions, spearheaded by Elon Musk calling Nolan an “anti-white racist” (lol) for casting Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, along with Nolan’s recent 60 Minutes appearance. However, does the online world actually translate to the real world of box office interest? That’s the real question. There’s reason to doubt.
“The Odyssey” still has some weeks before release, and whether online backlash is real—and whether it may bleed into general audience disinterest—remains speculative rather than established. I doubt Elon Musk alone can weaken this movie. Nolan has his legion of fans. If the film gets strong reviews before release, that negates a lot, if not all of this stuff.
“The Odyssey” is written and directed by Nolan and is based on Homer’s ancient Greek epic. The film stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, Mia Goth, John Leguizamo, and Travis Scott. It hits theaters on July 17, 2026 via Universal Pictures.
It’s no wonder 20th Century decided to dump the movie during the last week of August—a place where movies are set up to die quietly before the fall movie season begins.