Despite Full-Length Piracy Leak on Social Platforms, 'The Odyssey' May Surpass 'The Dark Knight' to Become Nolan's Highest-Grossing Film

Christopher Nolan's latest epic commercial blockbuster, 'The Odyssey,' has recently faced a severe piracy leak on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The full pirated version of the film was illegally uploaded and, before official intervention and removal, rapidly accumulated millions of views, sending shockwaves through the global entertainment industry and copyright holders.

According to foreign media reports, this serious copyright infringement first emerged on July 25, when a complete version of 'The Odyssey' suddenly appeared on X. Within just two and a half hours, the video's view count surged past 2.1 million. Some users, sharing the link, expressed disbelief with posts like, 'Can you believe someone uploaded the entire 'Odyssey' to X?' Such tweets further fueled the spread, pushing one pirated link's view count to 3 million.

Various videos claiming to be leaked footage from 'The Odyssey' circulated online

Although X subsequently removed the video, pirated copies continued to emerge like wildfire. The New York Post reported that by July 26, another infringing copy had appeared on X, attracting over 50,000 views in just a few hours before being blocked by the system.

By Monday, various links claiming to be leaked bootleg footage of 'The Odyssey' began spreading across social networks. However, many users who clicked on them discovered they were classic 'Rickrolling' pranks from meme culture—instead of seeing the film, they were redirected to Rick Astley’s 1987 hit song 'Never Gonna Give You Up,' with even two-hour looped versions circulating.

One user humorously commented under the now-removed original pirated tweet: 'Watching the entire 'Odyssey' in one tweet—this perfectly aligns with Nolan’s original filming intent.'

In response to this large-scale infringement, a spokesperson for Universal Pictures stated the company would take all necessary measures to strictly enforce copyright protection laws. 'We take copyright infringement extremely seriously and will pursue all available legal remedies to fully protect our content and intellectual property.'

Piracy fails to halt box office surge—global earnings projected to surpass $1.3 billion

Despite the disruption caused by the pirated video leak, 'The Odyssey' continues to dominate the global box office with overwhelming strength. This adaptation of the ancient Greek poet Homer’s epic of the same name earned another $87 million in North America during its second weekend. Within just 10 days of release, its global cumulative box office has rapidly surpassed $652 million. Industry analysts estimate the film’s final global total could exceed $1.3 billion.

Authoritative entertainment outlet Variety noted: 'Fueled by exceptional word-of-mouth and fanatical demand for premium large-format screenings like IMAX, 'The Odyssey' is expected to continue breaking box office records throughout the summer and into the fall. The film is highly likely to surpass 'The Dark Knight' (2009, $1.008 billion) and 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012, $1.08 billion), setting a new personal best for director Christopher Nolan’s career.'