Sir Christopher Nolan's big-screen adaptation of The Odyssey has not only become one of the year's box office hits — it has driven a 700% surge in UK sales of the ancient Greek poem that inspired it.
Sales of print editions of Homer's epic rose by 700% last week compared with the same period in 2025, according to NielsenIQ BookData. Nearly 8,000 copies were sold in a single week, pushing the year's total to 47,000 — a 95% year-on-year increase.
“Odyssey film sparks 700% UK book sales surge, with 8,000 copies sold in a week.”
British chain Waterstones reported “phenomenal” demand, particularly for Emily Wilson's 2017 translation, which Nolan cited as one of his sources. “We got more stock in but we weren't anticipating quite the uplift, particularly on Emily Wilson,” said Kate Skipper, Waterstones' chief operating officer. “So we're getting deliveries every day and they're flying out as soon as they land in the shops.”
The film itself took $264m (£198m) globally in its opening weekend, including $52m (£39m) on giant IMAX screens. In the UK alone, it earned £12.6m, making it the second-biggest opening weekend of the year behind Toy Story 5. It also broke the record for highest opening weekend takings on IMAX screens in the UK, according to Screen Daily.
Nolan's epic — starring Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Zendaya and Samantha Morton — has also ignited interest in audiobook versions. Listening figures on Spotify surged by about 680% since the film's release, Variety reported, with more than 80% of listeners belonging to Gen Z or millennials. An audio version read by Sir Stephen Fry entered the Spotify UK audiobook top 10, while Sir Ian McKellen's narration climbed the equivalent chart in the US.
Wilson welcomed the renewed attention but offered a critique. “I want to celebrate the fact that so many more people are aware of The Odyssey and were brought back to the poem,” she told the Associated Press. “But at the same time, I had the sense that Christopher Nolan was trying to pack everything in while missing themes that were essential to the poem.”
For now, bookshops are scrambling to keep up with demand — and younger readers, many encountering the 2,700-year-old story for the first time, are leading the charge.