\n\tIt\u2019s a show of strength worthy of Odysseus. <\/p>\n
\n\tUniversal has decided to skip having word-of-mouth (a.k.a. influencer) screenings for Christopher Nolan<\/a>\u2018s The Odyssey<\/a>. <\/p>\n \n\tInstead, after the film\u2019s global premiere screening in London on July 6, the film will begin screening for film critics. <\/p>\n \n\tThe move 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. <\/p>\n \n\tStudios typically make the decision whether to have word-of-mouth screenings on a case-by-case basis depending on the film, but it has become pretty standard procedure for films that are aiming for popcorn movie blockbuster status. <\/p>\n \n\tUniversal\u2019s decision also comes at a time when fans have gotten savvier about the relationship between studio marketing departments and influencers.<\/p>\n \n\tDisney, for example, was quickly called out for<\/a> using influencers in a viral stunt where The Mandalorian and Grogu star Pedro Pascal surprised a group of fans at Disneyland (the moment was presented online as if Pascal had appeared before unsuspecting regular tourists).<\/p>\n \n\tRecently, extremely positive influencer reviews for Warner Bros.\u2019 Supergirl<\/a> (\u201cthe best blockbuster of the summer!\u201d) were met with strong skepticism in some corners online. The official critic reviews for the film have been considerably more negative, with the film averaging 59 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. <\/p>\n \n\tUniversal previously had influencer screenings for Disclosure Day, which were very positive<\/a>. One viral blurb \u2014 \u201cSpielberg\u2019s best film in 20 years\u201d \u2014 got dragged a bit by the film\u2019s detractors, and was referenced in a couple critic reviews. <\/p>\n \n\tIt\u2019s way too early to say if movie influencers are losing, well, influence. But if Universal\u2019s decision to skip such screenings for The Odyssey gets enough attention, other studios could more frequently adopt the move as a confident flex \u2014 while studios who opt for such preview screenings might start to be more widely seen as trying to hide the ball. <\/p>\n \n\tThe Odyssey lands in theaters July 17. The film tells the story of Greek hero Odysseus\u2019 long, torturous and fantastical trip home from the Trojan War, back to the Kingdom of Ithaca to save his wife and son. The film stars\u00a0Matt Damon<\/a>\u00a0in the lead role, and also features Odysseus\u2019 son, Telemachus (Tom Holland<\/a>); Odysseus\u2019 wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway<\/a>); the nymph Calypso (Charlize Theron<\/a>); and Penelope\u2019s sniveling suitor, Antinous (Robert Pattinson<\/a>), who is seeking to marry the queen and become the ruler of Ithaca. The film also features Odysseus\u2019 servant Eumaeus (John Leguizamo<\/a>) and\u00a0Jon Bernthal<\/a>\u00a0as Menelaus, the Greek king of Sparta and Agamemnon\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a show of strength worthy of Odysseus. Universal has decided to skip having word-of-mouth (a.k.a. influencer) screenings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[263],"tags":[30852,18,117,19,17,327,30853,54747],"class_list":["post-554251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-christopher-nolan","tag-eire","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-movies","tag-the-odyssey","tag-universal-studios"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}