Musk Bets Grok Can Beat Hollywood: AI-Made 'Odyssey' Movie Promised by Year's End

Elon Musk is doubling down on his feud with Christopher Nolan's blockbuster The Odyssey. The X owner and newly-minted trillionaire declared this week that his AI chatbot, Grok, will produce a full-length, historically accurate film adaptation of Homer's epic before December 31. To prove the point, he shared a three-minute AI-generated short created by a follower using Grok Imagine. The move is the latest volley in Musk's ongoing culture-war campaign against Nolan's film, which he has repeatedly slammed as "woke" since casting rumors surfaced in January.

Musk's criticism began when Lupita Nyong'o was rumored to play Helen of Troy. In May, he amplified a far-right journalist's racist complaint about a Black actress in the role, calling Hollywood hypocritical. He also lashed out at unconfirmed reports that trans actor Elliot Page might play Achilles, calling it "one of the dumbest and most twisted things I've ever heard." (Page actually plays Sinon, a soldier from Virgil's Aeneid.) Musk's own Grok-generated version, based on the short clip he shared, appears to feature an all-white cast.

Nolan, meanwhile, has shrugged off the backlash, calling debates over historical accuracy "irrelevant" before anyone has seen the film. And the box office numbers suggest audiences agree: The Odyssey earned $124.5 million in North America over its opening weekend - the biggest live-action debut of 2026 and Nolan's largest global launch ever at $264.1 million. With an A CinemaScore and strong international sales, the film has only cemented its status as a hit, making Musk's AI-powered counter-programming look more like a sideshow than a serious challenge.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter