Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" trailer has been leaked Hype culture lands in cinema

Christopher Nolan has never liked giving previews of his films, completely abstaining from releasing trailers online (just think of Oppenheimer). However, with the start of filming for The Odyssey, fans' curiosity has been growing more and more, and often, such great excitement generates chaos. In recent hours, X has been flooded with leaks of the film's teaser and, even though it's only 70 seconds long, we can already see Tom Holland as Telemachus asking actor Jon Bernthal, who is presumed to be playing King Menelaus, where his father is. It's little, but enough to generate mixed feelings among users. It had already happened with Game of Thrones and Spider-Man: No Way Home, even though until recently the phenomenon of leaks was generally more centered on the music world.

In 2013, just days before the official release, Yeezus by Kanye was released by third parties without authorization, while a year later Madonna suffered the same fate with Rebel Heart, when about ten unreleased tracks, demos, and unfinished versions leaked online months before the official date. In October 2023, FKA Twigs announced on her Instagram profile that 85 of her demos had been leaked online, shortly after the artist gave a small preview of her new album during a performance at Paris Fashion Week. Following the incident, Twigs announced that she would not be releasing music for a while, ending her online message with a sarcastic «well done.» One of the latest examples of leaks in the music scene is that of Tate McRae, who earlier this year saw many songs from her new album So Close To What leak online. In that case, the singer chose to write a few more songs, like Like I Do and bloodonmyhands, trying to take control of the situation. It’s clear that leaks have been an extremely widespread phenomenon in music, but it seems that hype culture is gradually shifting to the film world.

Film scripts, entire plots, behind-the-scenes: cases of leaks in cinema are increasing more and more. From X to TikTok, it only takes typing the right words to open up a world that should actually remain hidden—from the third season of House of Cards made available on Netflix due to a technical glitch in 2015, to Sony films leaked online during a cyberattack, to the unauthorized release of the trailer for Demon Slayer, scheduled for release on July 18 in Japan, and a spoiler of the plot of the new Superman movie, in theaters from July 9. If leaks in music are more systemic and frequent due to the more fluid and immediate digital distribution, those in cinema seem to be more striking and damaging, given the much higher production costs. Often, anticipation increases the hype, which unfortunately leads to these kinds of consequences. Today, people are more and more eager to know, discover, and see. Marketing strategies often spiral out of control, generating a collective desire for fast consumption. In short, it really seems that in a society where waiting is seen as an obstacle and no longer as an integral part of the experience, leaking paradoxically becomes both an accident and a strategy, both a flaw and fuel for desire. Hype culture has turned cinema into a product to be consumed in advance, burning through the time of enjoyment in favor of anticipation. And unfortunately, those who suffer the consequences are not only directors and producers, but also the fans who find their feeds invaded by content they would have preferred to watch on the big screen.