> "doing his best to get the general public reading again"

This seems very detached from reality. I very much doubt that many people seeing a movie like this will think "oh, I should read The Odyssey", or "I should read more." And most people who try the former are unlikely to get very far.

The author recently published a retranslation of the Odyssey, that has rocketed to the top of best seller lists thanks to the movie. I'm sure her bank account provides her plenty of direct evidence that this is happening.

They are

“ Nevertheless, Wilson acknowledged the impact the film is already having on cultural awareness of ancient Greek literature as well as cinema itself. Saying “the release of The Odyssey is still an event to celebrate,” she suggests: “This epic is bringing audiences back to cinemas … translations of Odyssey, including mine, are flying off the shelves … [and] perhaps the film will persuade a few college administrators not to cut their literature, language and history departments.”

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/27/odyssey-transla...

The quote uses "some" and "a few". You're the only one talking about "many" and "most". On quantity, your post and the quote actually agree.

That was never to be the majority of the audience, but enough to keep the flame alive.

A lot of them will criticise the movie from departing from a text they never read, that they never understood the historical context. They’ll criticise it from being based on a relatively recent adaptation by a female author, which, BTW, is the author of the article. They will criticise not because they see a flaw in something, but because that’s their nature: in order to see themselves as sufficient, they need to see all others as lacking.

I did. In fact I am reading it right now before seeing the movie.