Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of The Odyssey is a bona fide cultural phenomenon (sorry, trolls!), smashing box office expectations with $264.1 million at the worldwide box office in its opening weekend, receiving rave reviews from critics, sparking a tsunami of Oscar buzz, and an Imax 70mm ticket frenzy that sent moviegoers traveling cross-country. Travel to see it or delay pregnancy.
Nolan’s hugely popular summer blockbuster stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, who encounters the goddess, sirens, cyclops, and armored giant Scylla as his wife and son, played by Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland, return to Ithaca for the first time in 10 years after the Trojan War. Data from Circana BookScan also shows that sales of all editions of “The Odyssey” are up 76% this year, and sales of the book version of Homer’s nearly 3,000-year-old tale are also up.
And, as Variety exclusively revealed, Nolan’s impact extends to the Spotify stream of the audiobook version of “The Odyssey.” According to Spotify, “With 91 audiobooks published in 10 languages, ‘The Odyssey’ has now been listened to on Spotify for the equivalent of over 43 years of continuous play.”
There’s more. On July 17, the first day Nolan’s The Odyssey was released, listening to the Odyssey audiobook spiked more than 500% on Spotify. In June, just weeks before its premiere, “Odyssey” ratings increased by more than 240%, and post-premiere ratings are on track to increase by about 680%. On Spotify, “The Odyssey” is particularly popular among younger listeners, with 36% of listeners being Gen Z, 45% being Millennials, and male listeners, making 63% of all listeners male.
“It’s always exciting to see beloved classics find new audiences,” Lena Yang, Spotify’s senior editor for audiobooks, told Variety. “Audiobooks offer a fresh way to experience a timeless story, and it’s especially rewarding to see listeners return to The Odyssey in such a meaningful way.”
