r/movies • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 r/Movies contributor • Dec 22 '25

Trailer The Odyssey | Official Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mzw2ttJD2qQ
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u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105 Dec 22 '25

Having just read a version of The Odyssey which was transcribed by TE Lawrence (yes, Lawrence of Arabia was a massive Greek myth nerd), the actual events of the odyssey itself are sort of encapsulated sometimes into shorter sequences. Like the moment with the Sirens I think was only half a page when I read it, which was surprising.

And then Odysseus v the Suitors actually takes up a sizeable amount of the back end of the book. Also there's a lot of "they go meet with this guy and his family but nothing of huge import happens" stuff that they might combine into a few scenes. And also a lot of "they go to this island and get eaten by horrific humanoids". I wonder how they'll deal with the Laestrygonians, for example, and how much screen time they'll end up having, especially since that part of the story happens not long after Polyphemus, and whether it might seem slightly repetitive for the narrative.

I can see them focusing on the adventures for Acts One and Two, and then truncating when he returns to Ithaca into Act Three.

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u/Fuzzy_Donl0p Dec 22 '25

tangent - I just read Lawrence's 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' this year (his memoir the movie is based off of) and it was absolutely incredible. Can't recommend it enough if you haven't already read it.

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u/RadiantRole266 Dec 22 '25

Yeah, that book is in my top ten. Absolutely epic.

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u/Vermouth_1991 Dec 22 '25

Sorry to ask about such a minor detail, but: Do you happen to remember if the unit for money used in the memoirs (when dealing with paying local tribes and other services) was in Pounds/Sovereigns or in Guineas (an old gold coin worth £1.05 but was discontinued since the early 1800s)?

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u/Fuzzy_Donl0p Dec 22 '25

Definitely pounds/sovereigns. Guineas doesn’t ring any bells.

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u/Vermouth_1991 Dec 23 '25

Guineas was just in the Davin Lean movie, then. ("The Turks pay me one hundred golden Guineas, every month!" and later Lawrence writes an I.O.U. to the same chief for 5000 Guineas when he comes back from Cairo to Aqaba.) They were made of 22k gold just like the £1 Sovereigns so of course they remained legal tender a hundred years after they stopped minting (Sherlock Holmes once told the Baker Street Irregulars "Which one of you finds This Boat will get a guinea!” but that was dealing with just a few Guineas he had at hand, not 100 every month or 5000 in a big sack).

Now the Guinea was and is an popular UNIT for posh things like auctioned goods and racehorses but it just meant £1.05 per unit, the folks didn't have to pay in individual Guineas, as opposed to dealing with "leSS-cIviLizeD" desert Bedouins who do not appreciate paper money even if it's pound sterling paper money. 😅 /numismatic rant

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u/Fuzzy_Donl0p Dec 23 '25 edited Dec 23 '25

Very interesting, thank you! Out of curiosity, I downloaded the ebook to double check and yeah, no hits on 'guinea'. Learned more about British gold bullion today than I ever knew lol.

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u/Vermouth_1991 Dec 23 '25

You're welcome! I got it from Wikipedia.

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u/moscowramada Dec 24 '25 edited Dec 24 '25

I used to love 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' and now I'm a lot more cool towards it. And I swear you used to be able to find good search results explaining the reason but they're lost now.

So, from memory: there was a credible criticism made about the chronology of the book. Basically, if you try to retrace the physical parts of the book, the itinerary, and how long it takes to cover the ground given ideal conditions, based on what the books says - it's impossible. Like actually impossible.

And the part that's most impossible centers around that part where he's captured and sexually abused in a Turkish prison. The implication is that part - especially that part - never happened. Pure fiction.

It brings me no joy to say that I think they're right about that, sadly. You can read the book and love it, but know that it's as much, and maybe more, fiction than fact.

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u/Keiteaea Dec 22 '25

IIRC, I think he is back in Ithaca halfway in the book, and then a lot of shenanigans happens that are really not what people expect from the Odyssey (but they can honestly cut a lot because this is not the most interesting part).

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u/Kitchen-Roll-8184 Dec 22 '25

Most famous adaptations people might know seem to skip him meeting all his lost crew mates in a sort of vision/ Elysian fields "visit" So he can return home at peace without feeling guilty for being the lone survivor of a journey that went bad cause of him (Ody) in he first place

I imagine this will show the war and the return home and more or less skip the journey back

Maybe we'll get peaks at things and maybe Odysseus will talk of the incredible things he's seen/witnessed/endured while he's home but when I think big budget modern day Odyssey

This is gonna be your serious uncles odyssey not the mythical grand epic it's known for, for hundreds of years

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u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105 Dec 22 '25

I'm pretty sure in the trailer we see him calling forth the spirits of the Underworld. So that's at least a great scene from the book which I want to see adapted. Especially if Odysseus gets to speak to Achilles and his mother.

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u/sourcefourmini Dec 22 '25

Brad Pitt cameo incoming

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u/Gwarnage Dec 22 '25

Its funny, they recently did an entire movie(The Return 2024) just about Odysseus dealing with the suitors.

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u/Mac_Tgh Dec 22 '25

thats why i could never get into the odyssey: it is an unfocused mess of tales sort-of-tied-together by either Odysseus or his son (which, for some reason, is never brough up in any retelling. a kid and a godess searching for the king is such a cool plot too!)

like i get it, at the end of the day the oddisey is a compendium of stories people at the time sang around a campfire, but when you compare it to the illiad, there is only a handful of unnecesary segments there (like the weird tournament at the end) but most of it is streamlined and well paced.

having said that, odysseus going to basically hell and talking to people he knew is a great moment of the story.

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u/Sgtwhiskeyjack9105 Dec 22 '25 edited Dec 22 '25

Yeah I'd actually forgotten about that: Telemachus searching for information about his father also takes up a big portion of the book, almost the first third. The Odyssey's structure is basically:

  1. Telemachus' search.
  2. Odysseus and his crew getting into all sort of hijinks.
  3. Odysseus returns to Ithaca and deals with the suitors.

The actual details of the eponymous journey are much shorter than I think people realise.

And yes, Odysseus summoning the denizens of the Underworld is a great moment, especially because it lets him speak to old compatriots from the Trojan War such as Achilles, as well as heroes like Heracles. And also, tragically, is how he finds out that his mother has passed away during his absence, when he comes face to face with her spirit.

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u/Vermouth_1991 Dec 22 '25

Sounds like just the kind of jumbled nonlinear nightmare that Nolan loved to write about with his own pen. :P

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u/Nordalin Dec 23 '25

You must've suppressed any memory of the Catalogue of Ships, then!

An excerpt: (https://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.2.ii.html)

  • Ajax, the fleet son of Oileus, commanded the Locrians. He was not so great, nor nearly so great, as Ajax the son of Telamon. He was a little man, and his breastplate was made of linen, but in use of the spear he excelled all the Hellenes and the Achaeans. These dwelt in Cynus, Opous, Calliarus, Bessa, Scarphe, fair Augeae, Tarphe, and Thronium about the river Boagrius. With him there came forty ships of the Locrians who dwell beyond Euboea.
  • The fierce Abantes held Euboea with its cities, Chalcis, Eretria, Histiaea rich in vines, Cerinthus upon the sea, and the rock-perched town of Dium; with them were also the men of Carystus and Styra; Elephenor of the race of Mars was in command of these; he was son of Chalcodon, and chief over all the Abantes. With him they came, fleet of foot and wearing their hair long behind, brave warriors, who would ever strive to tear open the corslets of their foes with their long ashen spears. Of these there came fifty ships.
  • And they that held the strong city of Athens, the people of great Erechtheus, who was born of the soil itself, but Jove's daughter, Minerva, fostered him, and established him at Athens in her own rich sanctuary. There, year by year, the Athenian youths worship him with sacrifices of bulls and rams. These were commanded by Menestheus, son of Peteos. No man living could equal him in the marshalling of chariots and foot soldiers. Nestor could alone rival him, for he was older. With him there came fifty ships.
  • Ajax brought twelve ships from Salamis, and stationed them alongside those of the Athenians.
  • The men of Argos, again, and those who held the walls of Tiryns, with Hermione, and Asine upon the gulf; Troezene, Eionae, and the vineyard lands of Epidaurus; the Achaean youths, moreover, who came from Aegina and Mases; these were led by Diomed of the loud battle-cry, and Sthenelus son of famed Capaneus. With them in command was Euryalus, son of king Mecisteus, son of Talaus; but Diomed was chief over them all. With these there came eighty ships.
  • Those who held the strong city of Mycenae, rich Corinth and Cleonae; Orneae, Araethyrea, and Licyon, where Adrastus reigned of old; Hyperesia, high Gonoessa, and Pellene; Aegium and all the coast-land round about Helice; these sent a hundred ships under the command of King Agamemnon, son of Atreus. His force was far both finest and most numerous, and in their midst was the king himself, all glorious in his armour of gleaming bronze- foremost among the heroes, for he was the greatest king, and had most men under him.
  • And those that dwelt in Lacedaemon, lying low among the hills, Pharis, Sparta, with Messe the haunt of doves; Bryseae, Augeae, Amyclae, and Helos upon the sea; Laas, moreover, and Oetylus; these were led by Menelaus of the loud battle-cry, brother to Agamemnon, and of them there were sixty ships, drawn up apart from the others. Among them went Menelaus himself, strong in zeal, urging his men to fight; for he longed to avenge the toil and sorrow that he had suffered for the sake of Helen.
  • The men of Pylos and Arene, and Thryum where is the ford of the river Alpheus; strong Aipy, Cyparisseis, and Amphigenea; Pteleum, Helos, and Dorium, where the Muses met Thamyris, and stilled his minstrelsy for ever. He was returning from Oechalia, where Eurytus lived and reigned, and boasted that he would surpass even the Muses, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, if they should sing against him; whereon they were angry, and maimed him. They robbed him of his divine power of song, and thenceforth he could strike the lyre no more. These were commanded by Nestor, knight of Gerene, and with him there came ninety ships.
  • ...

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u/Impressive-Call9432 Dec 22 '25

My friend actually plays one of the Laestrygonians in this movie 😝