In recent years, film studios have started courting influencers, hoping to take advantage of their large social media followings. That's led to a lot of cringeworthy junket interviews and embarrassing red carpet exchanges, but also the sort of positive early buzz that can provide a much-needed boost during a movie's opening weekend.
However, fans have started realising that all is not as it seems. After all, when someone is treated to a vacation or taken on all manner of experiences that are later turned into a minute-long TikTok, it's hard to believe them when they later heap enthusiastic praise upon a movie or TV series.
According to The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com), Universal Pictures will not hold early influencer screenings for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, a decision that's been celebrated—ironically—on social media.
Instead, the first screenings will be for film critics, which, as the trade explains, "bucks the trend of studios getting ahead of professional reviews by inviting fan-site bloggers and influencers to see major releases in advance and then letting them post (often highly enthusiastic) mini reviews on social media."
In recent months, Disney, DC Studios, and Universal have been called out for using influencers to create buzz. With The Mandalorian and Grogu, the House of Mouse came under fire for a video showing Pedro Pascal surprising people at Disneyland. While they were presented as unsuspecting tourists, the fans in question were, in fact, influencers with large online followings.
Supergirl is the next example presented by this report, with influencers hailing it as "the best blockbuster of the summer" and a 5* masterpiece...after being invited to cast meet-and-greets and set visits. As for Universal, it might have learned its lesson after early praise calling Disclosure Day the best Steven Spielberg film in two decades was widely ridiculed and questioned, rather than building excitement.
"It’s way too early to say if movie influencers are losing, well, influence," adds the site. "But if Universal’s decision to skip such screenings for The Odyssey gets enough attention, other studios could more frequently adopt the move as a confident flex — while studios who opt for such preview screenings might start to be more widely seen as trying to hide the ball."
The cast of The Odyssey includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, Mia Goth, John Leguizamo, Himesh Patel, Lupita Nyong'o, Will Yun Lee, Benny Safdie, Bill Irwin, Samantha Morton, Jesse Garcia, Corey Hawkins, Josh Stewart, Jimmy Gonzales, Maurice Compte, and Logan Marshall-Green.
Shot across the world using brand new IMAX film technology, the film brings Homer’s foundational saga to IMAX film screens for the first time and opens in theaters everywhere on July 17, 2026. A new still from the movie has been released, which you can see below.