A scene from "Odyssey." [AP]
A scene from "Odyssey." [AP]

The popularity of Christopher Nolan's epic "Odyssey" has spread well beyond movie theaters, taking hold of bookstores and home screens alike. Audiences eager to dig deeper into the film have been picking up Homer's "Odyssey" and revisiting "Troy," the earlier film covering the war that precedes Nolan's story.

According to the Korean Film Council's integrated ticketing network, "Odyssey" had drawn a cumulative audience of about 8.017 million as of Friday, landing it third among this year's domestic releases by box office performance.

As of 9 a.m. Saturday, the film held an overwhelming 66.5 percent share of advance ticket sales — roughly 572,000 tickets — keeping it firmly on course toward the 10 million admissions milestone.

Shot entirely on 70mm IMAX film cameras, the film renders the mythological landscapes of the ancient Mediterranean in stunning resolution, drawing audiences back for multiple viewings.

The blockbuster success of "Odyssey" has also sparked a remarkable comeback for "Troy," the 2004 film. According to the integrated online ticketing network, purchases of "Troy" on IPTV platforms — including SK Broadband, LG U+ tv and Genie TV — jumped 4,020.7 percent this month through Wednesday compared with the previous month, rising from 574 transactions to 23,653. The film climbed 103 spots in the rankings to reach seventh overall. The surge signals that audiences are actively seeking out the context of the Trojan War, which serves as a prequel to the story Nolan tells.

A still from "Odyssey." [Universal Pictures]
A still from "Odyssey." [Universal Pictures]

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen and released in South Korea in 2004, "Troy" is based on Homer's "Iliad." The film follows the elopement of Trojan prince Paris (Orlando Bloom) and Spartan queen Helen (Diane Kruger) as the spark for a war that showcases the heroics and spectacle of warriors including Achilles (Brad Pitt) and Hector (Eric Bana). It drew about 3.85 million admissions upon its original release.

Nolan's "Odyssey" takes a markedly different approach: rather than the war itself, it explores the penitence and homecoming of a man left amid the ruins after the fighting ends.

The thematic and philosophical distance between the two films is stark. Where "Troy" depicted the glittering clash of Bronze Age civilization and the self-destruction of heroism, "Odyssey" turns its lens on Odysseus (Matt Damon) — the architect of the Trojan Horse, the deception that annihilated a civilization.

The film dissects in particular the decade-long punishment and purification that Odysseus endures after violating the sacred law of Zeus — the ancient Greek code of hospitality and good faith that underpinned civilization itself.

That theme echoes the self-reckoning at the heart of Nolan's previous film "Oppenheimer," which probed the inner life of the scientist who opened the door to humanity's destruction through the development of nuclear weapons — another meditation on the devastation wrought by civilization.

The "Odyssey" wave is rippling well beyond the multiplex. Purchases of Andrei Konchalovsky's 1997 TV film "The Odyssey" soared 8,440.7 percent month-on-month to 2,306 transactions, and the title climbed to second on the weekly chart of the streaming service Wavve.

Bookstores are seeing a similar surge, with sales of complete Korean translations of Homer's "Odyssey" and "Iliad" jumping more than fivefold compared with the same period last year, as readers turn with scholarly enthusiasm to classical texts written nearly 2,800 years ago.


shee@heraldcorp.com