Elon Musk has unveiled the first seven minutes of his “historically faithful” version of The Odyssey, generated by Grok, his artificial intelligence. Visually less catastrophic than feared, the result struggles to compete with Christopher Nolan’s film, a major box-office success.
- Elon Musk a dévoilé les sept premières minutes de son Odyssée générée par Grok, son IA.
- Les images sont convaincantes, mais le rythme manque de souffle et le récit paraît vide.
- Le projet répond à l’adaptation de Christopher Nolan, que Musk a critiquée pour son casting.
- Le résultat peine à rivaliser avec le succès du film de Nolan et sa fidélité historique reste invérifiable.
Three months after promising a feature film, the billionaire posted the first footage on X this Friday, October 23. The sequence shows Odysseus’s departure from Ithaca, leaving behind Penelope and their son Telemachus, still a baby, then the arrival of the ships under the walls of Troy. The project, developed by Grok in collaboration with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker, is presented as episode 1 of a series dedicated to the mythological tale.
Visually, some shots are convincing enough to give the illusion of real actors on a real sea. The result also appears more polished than several AI-generated videos recently published by Elon Musk. The characters deliver their lines with gravity, but the whole lacks breath: the voiceover, with a British accent, rolls out the context without interruption, then gives way to a succession of bearded characters.
Two opposing visions
The project is part of a more personal quarrel. Last July, Elon Musk criticized Christopher Nolan’s adaptation, particularly its casting, composed of Black and transgender actors. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO wanted to offer his own reading of the epic, with casting choices in line with his vision.
The two men’s positions on artificial intelligence are just as different. Elon Musk is multiplying initiatives in this field and mentions, among other things, orbital data centers. Christopher Nolan, for his part, stated that AI could not replace “human creativity” in cinema and that it could “create nothing.”
The British director opted for filming on real sets, spread across six countries, with thousands of people mobilized in front of and behind the camera. His film reached a wide audience, with sold-out Imax screenings for months, and has grossed over $1.7 billion. It is also among the favorites for the upcoming Oscars ceremony.
An Odyssey with a Musk twist
The promise of historical fidelity remains difficult to verify based solely on these seven minutes, especially as the characters do not speak ancient Greek. Several internet users also noted that the ships “look like Viking ships,” while all the characters appear white.
Published on X, the video has been viewed over 6.3 million times. Grok invites users to ask questions about the methods used and to give their opinion. Among the reactions, one user writes: “Perfectly in line with Elon’s tastes.” Another judges: “Just soulless filler, with no thought or anything.”
The exercise evokes a video game cinematic more than a film, except that no button allows skipping scenes.
