Three YouTubers tried sneaking into a screening of The Odyssey with a cardboard Trojan horse.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has only been in theaters for a few days, but some YouTubers have already come up with what might be the perfect promotional stunt. In an attempt to sneak into a screening of the movie, the creators quickly built a Trojan horse, drawing inspiration from the very trick that made Homer’s epic world-famous.
Sneaking Into “The Odyssey” With A Trojan Horse
Three members of the American YouTube group Full Squad wanted to see Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster The Odyssey in theaters. Their plan involved building their own Trojan horse, inspired by one of the most iconic moments in Greek mythology.
The group documented the entire stunt to later post it on their YouTube channel and Shorts. The idea quickly went viral across social media. The challenge was a direct reference to Homer’s Odyssey, in which Greek soldiers hid inside a giant wooden horse to infiltrate the supposedly impregnable city of Troy.
The horse itself was mostly made of cardboard and mounted on a small platform with four wheels. Even on their way to the theater, the unusual creation attracted plenty of curious looks from passersby. Nolan’s adaptation puts the famous scene front and center, turning the Trojan horse into one of the movie’s biggest marketing symbols.
Did The Creators Pull It Off?
The irony of the stunt lies in the fact that the creators tried to sneak into the theater using the exact same trick that plays such an important role in Homer’s story.
However, the appeal of the challenge had less to do with whether the YouTubers would actually succeed and more with the amount of effort they put into the stunt. For the video, they built a large cardboard horse and transported it all the way to the theater. From the beginning, it was obvious that the entire idea was mainly intended to entertain their audience.
Two members of the group hid inside the horse while the third, dressed as a Greek soldier, pulled the construction into the theater. As he tried to take a corner quickly in order to reach the correct screening room, the horse tipped over with the two hidden YouTubers still inside.
Shortly afterward, two theater employees approached them. One of them reacted to the stunt with a simple “Nice job,” while another added, “I respect this.” Despite appreciating the effort, the employees made it clear that the creators would not be allowed to bring the Trojan horse into the screening.
Part of the reason the idea resonated so well is that studios and fans are currently using Trojan horses everywhere: Matt Damon himself recently arrived at Jimmy Kimmel Live in one.
Why Everyone Is Suddenly Talking About Trojan Horses
The Trojan horse has become the defining symbol of Nolan’s film and is now appearing in almost every marketing campaign.
For the movie’s premiere in New York, Universal unveiled a nearly 40-foot-tall replica weighing more than 3.5 tons outside the theater. The scene also plays a major role in the film itself: footage shown at CinemaCon featured Odysseus and his soldiers waiting inside the horse for the perfect moment.
According to crew members, Nolan and cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema even sat inside the prop alongside the actors during filming in order to capture the claustrophobic atmosphere as realistically as possible.
The YouTubers could hardly have chosen a better way to attract attention. Nearly 3,000 years after Homer first told the story, the Trojan horse is still helping people get into places where they would normally not be allowed.
What do you think of the stunt? Is the hype surrounding the three creators justified? Let us know in the comments.
