Elon Musk’s ambitious attempt to reinvent The Odyssey using artificial intelligence has been savaged by movie fans, with viewers branding the billionaire’s adaptation “trash” and questioning whether AI can ever replace human filmmakers.
RadarOnline.com can reveal Musk, 55, released the first seven-minute installment of his Grok Imagine project on X, three months after promising a feature-length adaptation of Homer’s Greek epic.
‘Pure Garbage. As Expected. Elon Musk Has No Taste.’
The production, developed in collaboration with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker, follows the blockbuster success of Christopher Nolan’s rival adaptation, which opened in July and has grossed more than $1.7billion worldwide.
The response from viewers was overwhelmingly critical, with several questioning the quality of the AI-generated characters, their movements and the production’s artistic credibility.
One X user wrote: “Pure garbage. As expected. Elon Musk has no taste.”
Another viewer questioned whether the technology could ever compete with traditional filmmaking and branded it “trash.”
One user wrote: “If this is what the richest man on the planet can come up with, I can safely say AI movies won’t be replacing actual movies anytime soon.”
A third criticized the apparent absence of human creativity behind the production.
The viewer wrote: “What’s great about this is it shows you how little AI understands art or humans. You really have to have no taste to like this.”
Others complained about the unnatural movements of the computer-generated characters, with one questioning why everything appeared to be moving underwater.
Another compared the digitally created figures to characters from Game of Thrones, criticizing their artificial appearance.
Others were more brutal, branding Musk’s effort “s—” and “nonsense.”
AI Movie Takes Aim at Christopher Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’
Musk announced his project in July, shortly after Nolan’s adaptation reached theaters, promising a version that would remain faithful to Homer’s original work.
He wrote: “Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer.”
The billionaire had previously attacked Nolan’s casting decisions, particularly Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy and Elliot Page as Sinon.
He accused the filmmaker of “desecrating Homer” to satisfy what he described as the “woke rules required to win an Oscar”.
AI-Generated Characters and Visuals Draw Sharp Criticism
Musk’s version begins with Odysseus preparing to leave for Troy, while Penelope presents him with a wooden horse intended for their infant son.
The footage subsequently depicts Greek soldiers preparing for battle, scenes from the Trojan War and Telemachus growing up.
Its characters have noticeably airbrushed appearances, while the dialogue is delivered in English rather than ancient Greek.
Nolan’s adaptation stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus.
The ensemble also includes Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Samantha Morton and Charlize Theron.
Nolan’s film earned $264.1million during its worldwide opening weekend and subsequently became Universal Pictures’ highest-grossing release, overtaking Jurassic World.
Christopher Nolan Defends His Odyssey Adaptation and Discusses AI
The director previously dismissed arguments about his film’s historical accuracy before its release.
He said: “These conversations that happen before people see the film – they’re always irrelevant, because no one having them knows what the film actually is yet.”
Discussing artificial intelligence with French journalist Hugo Travers, Nolan also compared the technology to the Trojan horse.
He said: “I think AI is a Trojan horse that everybody knows the Greeks are inside. It’s a transparent horse, it’s made of glass. Everybody can see what’s going on inside of there.”
Nolan is among Hollywood’s most acclaimed filmmakers, celebrated for visually ambitious, intellectually complex blockbusters.
His credits include Memento, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk and The Dark Knight trilogy.
His 2023 historical drama Oppenheimer won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, cementing his reputation as a cinematic visionary.
