A high-quality pirated version of Christopher Nolan’s film ‘The Odyssey’ was leaked on X and viewed by millions before the account was suspended, according to The Guardian and Variety. The leak occurred after a post stating, ‘Someone uploaded ‘The Odyssey’ full movie on X. Can you believe it?’ went viral at the weekend.

Leaked Film Gains Viral Attention

The post flagging the film was viewed more than 3 million times before the account hosting the apparently leaked film was suspended by X, according to The Guardian. Variety reported that the post received over 2.1 million views within two and a half hours. The message included a high-quality version of the film, confirmed by Variety.

By the time the streaming film was replaced by a takedown notice, the account was suspended. According to Variety, a few clones of the bootlegged film were available on X by July 26, but they were largely replaced by mislabeled files tricking users into watching Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ music video.

Box Office Resilience

Christopher Nolan’s film has been a box office and critical hit since its release at the beginning of July, securing glowing reviews and more than $600 million at the global box office, according to The Guardian. The leak does not appear to have dented the film’s box office performance. The film’s global takings have risen to $640 million after it took $87 million in the U.S. on its second weekend of release, a decline of 30% on its opening weekend but still a sign of its holding power in the world’s largest cinema market by revenue.

It certainly doesn’t seem to have hurt the film’s still-surging box office in its second weekend, during which it earned another $87 million, or lessened demand for the coveted Imax 70 mm tickets, according to Variety.

Universal and Elon Musk Respond

In a statement, Universal said, ‘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.’

Elon Musk, the owner of X, has been a vocal critic of ‘The Odyssey,’ using its casting choices—such as Black actor Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy,as vehicles for reciting familiar arguments about DEI culture via his own X account, according to The Guardian. Last week, the world’s richest person said he would use his AI platform Grok Imagine to make a ‘historically accurate’ adaptation of Homer’s epic poem.

Beyond piracy, X owner Elon Musk has been vocal with his opinions on the Christopher Nolan movie, insulting casting choices in particular, writing, ‘Who specifically is the asshole who added DEI lies to Academy Awards eligibility instead of it just being about making the best movie?’ Musk then said his AI tool Grok Imagine would make a ‘historically accurate’ version of the film to release this year, according to Variety.