[Edaily Starin YUN GI BACK Reporter] As director Christopher Nolan’s film “The Odyssey” has surpassed 10 million viewers, the box office fever is spreading beyond the theaters. There has been a surge in readers seeking out Homer’s “The Odyssey,” the source material for the film, propelling the nearly 3,000-year-old classic to the top of the bestseller list; theaters have even launched programs where audiences can read the book and learn about Greek mythology. Overseas, the film’s shooting locations are gaining attention as new tourist destinations. In a sense, a single movie has brought a classic back to life as “contemporary content.”

According to the publishing industry on the 6th, sales of books related to *The Odyssey* have been rising sharply since the film’s release. On Yes24, sales of *The Odyssey* published by Hyundae Jisung and translated by Park Moon-jae surged by 3,709% in August compared to the same period in July. Since the film’s release, it has maintained a spot in the top five of the overall bestseller list for three consecutive weeks and even climbed to second place in the fourth week of August.
This popularity has continued into September. In the first week of September, Eulyu Culture’s *The Odyssey*, translated by Seoul National University Professor Kim Heon, took the No. 1 spot on Yes24’s overall bestseller list. Sales increased by 73.7% compared to the previous week. Hyundai Jisung’s *Odyssey* also climbed to No. 4, maintaining its position in the top five for five consecutive weeks. At Kyobo Bookstore during the same period, *Odyssey* ranked No. 5 overall, while *Odisseia* ranked No. 11.
The “reverse surge” in interest in the original work, which began even before the movie’s release, has become even more pronounced as it coincides with the film’s success in drawing 10 million viewers. Moviegoers’ interest is extending beyond simple film guidebooks to include classic original texts, such as complete translations from Ancient Greek.

The interest sparked by the film has expanded beyond reading to include “hands-on experiences.” Last month, CGV hosted the “CGV Book Club with *The Odyssey*” at Cine de Chef Yongsan. The program provided participants with a copy of Hyundai Jisung’s edition of *The Odyssey* and allowed them to read freely in their theater seats for about two hours. Following the launch of the “C-Bookstore Reading Lounge”—a space dedicated to reading in theaters—last year, CGV is expanding its programs this year that combine film intellectual property (IP) with reading.
Megabox organized “Cine Docent,” a program that explores Greek and Roman mythology—the backdrop of *The Odyssey*—alongside Western artworks. It explains the characters and events of the myths through artworks and describes the background of the Trojan War and the relationships between characters by referencing *The Odyssey* and *The Iliad*, the original texts on which the film is based. In essence, movie theaters are incorporating this demand—which goes beyond simply watching a film to reading and learning about the work’s background—into new cultural content.
The impact of “The Odyssey” is also spreading to the travel industry. The island of Favignana in Sicily, Italy—which appeared in the film as Ithaca, Odysseus’s homeland—has begun efforts to translate the movie’s success into tourism revenue. Local authorities are planning a permanent “Odyssey” exhibition at the former Florio tuna processing plant, which served as the film’s production headquarters, to display costumes and equipment used during filming. Local boat tours have also begun showcasing the movie’s filming locations.
On this small island with a population of about 3,000, changes are already being felt, with investors from North America, the Middle East, and India showing interest in high-end tourism projects following the film’s release. The Fabignana authorities hope the film will serve as an opportunity to reduce the off-season and extend the length of stay for tourists, rather than simply attracting a short-term surge of visitors.