Grok has put seven minutes of Elon Musk Odyssey footage into public view, labeling it “Episode 1 of our Odyssey series.” The release turns a promised AI movie into something audiences can actually assess, not just something they were told was coming.
Wonder Studios and Dev Walker
The footage was created with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker. That matters because the project is no longer just a Musk announcement; it has a visible production pipeline, a named director, and a first installment that can be judged on its own terms.
Three months earlier, Musk said Grok would release a full-length, historically accurate movie version of The Odyssey. He had already lashed out at Christopher Nolan’s version because Nolan cast nonwhite and transgender actors, setting up a sharp contrast between a live-action prestige release and an AI-made response.
Anthony Ha on the clip
Anthony Ha, the TechCrunch weekend editor, wrote that the Grok clip was not as spectacularly ugly as he had expected. That is faint praise, but it is still a useful read on the project’s first public test: the material can draw attention without immediately collapsing under ridicule.
The footage also uses a British accent in the narration and does not use ancient Greek in the dialogue. The clip, as presented, has no sense of artistry, inspiration, or human interest, and it feels completely airless as a whole.
Christopher Nolan and Imax
Christopher Nolan described himself as “a techno-skeptic” and said that before AI, he had never seen a technology so completely rejected by the public. His film used plenty of visual effects, was primarily a feat of practical filmmaking, and had a shoot spanning six countries with a cast and crew of thousands.
After its release in July, Nolan’s The Odyssey became an extraordinary box office success, sold out Imax screenings for months, and emerged as the likely front-runner at the next Academy Awards. Against that backdrop, Grok’s seven-minute Episode 1 looks less like a full challenge to Nolan than a small opening bid that still needs to prove it can grow beyond a teaser-sized experiment.
