Nolan’s greatest special effect is having put Homer back on the shelves

Even before it hit the cinemas, Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster had already sparked something that cinema rarely manages to stir: a surge in sales of the classics. The Odyssey, a poem dating back almost three thousand years, has returned to the forefront of Italian bookshelves, with sales rising almost in step with the film’s promotional campaign. The staggering rise in sales has gone virtually hand in hand with the film’s box-office success, regardless of the debate over IMAX versus standard screenings: the film has grossed $650 million in less than a month since its release, with an opening weekend of $264 million (the best debut of Nolan’s entire career).

As for books, the figures – compiled by "Il Giornale della Libreria" (the official publication of the Italian Publishers’ Association) based on NielsenIQ BookData – reveal a gradual growth trend. "Nolan fever" in Italy began as soon as the first two trailers were released. Following the first video, released on 22 December 2025, sales by copy between December and January rose by 12.4 per cent compared with the same period the previous year. With the second trailer, on 4 May, the surge became pronounced: in May 2026, copies sold increased by 46 per cent year-on-year. In the first half of the year, sales saw an overall increase of 25 per cent in terms of copies and 36 per cent in value compared with 2025, spread across 43 different editions of the poem.

Behind these figures lie the publishing houses, which have had to keep up with an unexpected surge in demand. Ippocampo, which published its edition illustrated by Aurélien Police as recently as 1 July, provides a textbook example: “The book has enjoyed extremely strong sales since the day of its publication,” the publisher reports, “so much so that the first print run sold out in a very short time.” Two reprints followed, the first of which has already been completely snapped up by bookshops. At the publishing house, they explain, the return of the "Odyssey" to the bestseller lists has been the subject of internal discussion in recent days: “We are delighted that Nolan’s film, however divisive it may be, has helped to bring back into the limelight one of the foundational works of our literary culture, all too often relegated to the confines of the classroom.”

Einaudi, too, which has two historic translations in its catalogue – that by Guido Paduano (Et Biblioteca, 2024) and the historic version by Rosa Calzecchi Onesti, edited by Fausto Codino (Et Classici) – confirms this trend to Il Foglio with clear figures. In the first half of 2026, sales of both editions rose by around 30 per cent compared with 2025. But it is since June that the trend has really taken off: sales of Paduano’s translation have more than doubled, rising to 118 per cent, whilst those of Calzecchi Onesti’s have almost tripled (181 per cent). Both titles are currently being reprinted.

Mondadori has also followed suit, publishing a new edition in the ‘Classici Cult’ series, designed specifically as a reading guide for those leaving the cinema who wish to return to the original text.

The picture that emerges is that of a domino effect that is far from predictable: a Hollywood blockbuster which, rather than replacing the book, revitalises it, prompting readers of all ages to rediscover a rich catalogue of translations, school editions and rewritings. Although criticised by some for being historically inaccurate in places, "The Odyssey" has sparked the curiosity of millions, prompting them to (re)discover a classic through reading, thereby overturning the traditional pattern in which the book precedes the film.