Three months after Elon Musk announced Grok would produce a full-length, historically accurate film version of The Odyssey, the company has released a seven-minute clip titled Episode 1 of its Odyssey series.
Musk had previously criticised Christopher Nolan’s adaptation for casting nonwhite and transgender actors. Nolan, who describes himself as a techno-skeptic, noted that before artificial intelligence he had never seen a technology so completely rejected by the public. In contrast, the SpaceX and Tesla chief continues to hype data centres in space and post an endless stream of AI-generated content.
Nolan’s film relied heavily on practical effects, with a shoot spanning six countries and a cast and crew numbering in the thousands. Released in July, it became a major box office success, selling out Imax screenings for months and positioning itself as a strong contender for the next Academy Awards.
The Grok version, created in collaboration with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker, is available to view.
The footage is not as visually unappealing as anticipated and surpasses recent videos Musk has shared. At times, the scenes resemble real actors sailing across a real sea. However, the historical accuracy of the characters remains unverified. All figures appear with skin tones approved by Musk, while the narrator uses a British accent familiar to fans of fantasy video games and generic Hollywood epics from the last 25 years.
The clip lacks artistry, inspiration, or human interest. The backstory delivered via voiceover continues for an extended period before revealing one bearded face after another shouting stilted lines. These performances make Nolan’s dialogue seem sophisticated by comparison.
While individual shots may offer a reasonable simulation of reality, the sequence feels airless. Viewers gain no sense of momentum or reason to care about anything on-screen. Attention held for the nearly three-hour runtime of Nolan’s film dissipated quickly here, with the audience checking the timer before the clip reached the halfway point.
It is difficult to imagine interest in another seven minutes of this content, let alone a full feature.
What it means
The release demonstrates current generative video capabilities but highlights significant gaps in narrative engagement and character consistency compared to traditional filmmaking.
