The Odyssey leaked on X and Telegram.
Pirated copies were viewed by millions.
Universal vowed strict action, attempting a massive takedown.
Over the weekend, a high-quality version of Christopher Nolan's behemoth success The Odyssey propped up on a now-suspended X account, with the full 2-hour-53-minute film shared through a link. The pirated copy rapidly gained traction, notching up nearly 2.1 million views before the platform and Universal Studios began removing the content.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures commented on the film's leak on social media. "We became aware of the unauthorized posting of the film and immediately initiated takedown protocols. We take copyright infringement seriously and will pursue all appropriate remedies to protect our content and intellectual property rights," the statement read.
The Odyssey's Massive Success Wasn't Hindered
Along with X, pirated copies of the film were also circulating on Telegram. The messaging platform has gained quite a reputation for being the most promising frontier of pirated content. Following the studio’s action, most copies of the leaked film appeared to have been removed from social media platforms by Sunday morning.
Despite the pirated copies, The Odyssey is still storming the box office, galloping past $600 million globally in its second weekend. As of Sunday afternoon , a few clones of the bootlegged film were available on X, but they’ve been mostly drowned out by mislabelled files promising The Odyssey but showing a Rickroll, the longtime Internet prank of duping people into watching the music video for Rick Astley’s 1987 song Never Gonna Give You Up.
The film, based on Homer's ancient Greek poem, follows King Odysseus' (Matt Damon) dangerous voyage back to Ithaca after the Trojan War, including battles with mythical creatures, as he attempts to reunite with his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and son, Telemachus (Tom Holland).
The film also stars Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong'o, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Mia Goth, Corey Hawkins, Jon Bernthal, Samantha Morton, Travis Scott, and Benny Safdie. The film had a budget of $250-million and is widely heralded to dominate the award season race.
