Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" finally hits theaters on July 17.
That's great news for fans of the Oscar-winning director. Or anyone who loves cinema, since Nolan is arguably the biggest director in Hollywood today.
Yes, bigger than Steven Spielberg.
He takes big, bold swings that reflect his ambition and talent. What's not to love? How about the marketing behind the movie?
it started with complaints about the film's casting decisions. Notably, that a character who has been portrayed by stunning white actresses over the years - Helen of Troy - will be played by black Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o. The "12 Years a Slave" star is certainly beautiful, but the race swap angered some in social media circles.
Plus, Nolan hired trans actor Elliot Page to co-star in the film, a part which some overeager conservatives claimed was Achilles from the literary classic.
Fake news. That didn't stop the online fury against Page and the film.
Now, it's getting louder. And we can blame the film's stars for that.
Earlier this week, Nyong'o served up a feminist soufflé for one lucky entertainment scribe. The reporter asked the cast members what they might say to Homer, author of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," if they could meet him.
Nyong'o broke out her English to Woke dictionary for her answer:
“So, I would be like, ‘So, Homer, how do you feel about this screen time given to these women considering how little you spent with them? Hmmm. Remember us?
Lena Dunham would be proud.
Not to be outdone, co-star Samantha Morton used her PR moment to play the Victim Card on behalf of women throughout history.
‘The Odyssey’ star Samantha Morton says women have been vilified throughout history while praising Christopher Nolan’s feminist “interpretation” of Circe.
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 8, 2026
“Women have just been vilified throughout history and I think that’s was my take on it.” pic.twitter.com/uIjggnVvqp
Co-star John Leguizamo, as woke as any of his Hollywood peers, used the PR push to complain about the treatment of "Latin people" during a podcast interview.
The cultural annihilation that happened to Latin people is the worst in the history of the world,” he claimed. “The theft of all our wealth and gold. And our gold funded the second half of the Renaissance … 500,000 tons of gold that was taken from us.
X.com's Community Notes debunked the star's math, but he wasn't done.
You wonder, like, here we are, Latin people, 500 years after the conquest, and where are we? Why aren’t we further up in the food chain? And then you start to understand all the practices and oppression that goes into keeping people down. It makes you angry.
The media isn't making things better. Here, Variety gathered "the women of Odyssey" for a group photo. Why? Would they gather the film's male stars for a similar photo shoot? It's almost as if Variety wanted to stoke the culture wars surrounding the film.
The women of #TheOdyssey, including Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, and Charlize Theron, pose at the Paris photocall. pic.twitter.com/uiUI18FdRO
— Variety (@Variety) July 7, 2026
That's partially true. That kind of reporting gets more clicks, and it falls in line with the far-Left thinking of most media outlets (and journalists).
"The Odyssey" may still be bulletproof at the box office. That Nolan brand remains rock solid, and the starry trailers suggest an epic worthy of the summer season.
Some films have been derailed by their stars' woke posturing. Think Rachel Zegler's "Snow White," subtitled, "Open Mouth, Insert Foot." That movie cost Disney a pretty penny. Or, more specifically, $170 million at the box office.
Nolan's epic adventure won't be denied, but chances are it might have been even bigger if it didn't actively alienate swaths of potential moviegoers.
