Influencers will not be able to see The Odyssey in advance because the film distributor fears that their reviews (especially the positive ones) will harm it.

Apparently, influencer reviews have been a problem for Disclosure Day and Universal does not want to repeat the mistake.

The previews for influencers have now become a standard practice in film promotion, a tool with which distributors hope to “forcefully” activate word-of-mouth, believing (or rather hoping) that the public trusts influencers and does not suspect (as they should) the sincerity of their opinions. Obviously, once a rule is established, it’s only a matter of time before the exception occurs. Universal has decided to be the exception and not to organize any previews for influencers within the promotional campaign for the most important film of the year, Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan.

As Jordan Ruimy writes on World of Reel, the official previews – there are always special ones for friends and family, on dates that remain secret – will begin, at least in the United States, on July 7 and will most likely be organized in the morning. One of the reasons that led Universal to make this decision is the precedent recently set with Disclosure Day by Steven Spielberg. For this film, there were previews for influencers and they turned out to be more harmful than anything else: influencers immediately described Disclosure Day as “the best Spielberg film in the last 20 years,” an opinion that proved to be quite exaggerated when the reviews from critics and paying audiences arrived. For Universal, the confusion generated by these conflicting voices proved difficult to manage and made the film significantly harder to promote. The case of Disclosure Day is not the only one of its kind: the “reviews” from influencers had the same effect in the case of Mickey 17, Wicked: Part 2 and “Wuthering Heights”. Regardless of the box office – Wicked and “Wuthering Heights” did well at the box office, Mickey 17 was a disaster – the problem is the confusion that these exaggerated opinions from influencers generate around a film.

The reason why Universal has decided not to hold previews for influencers at this time has not been explained, but according to all industry insiders, it is precisely to avoid creating confusion around the most important release of the summer and probably of the year. Some people online speculate another intriguing explanation: can you imagine Christopher Nolan being forced to attend a preview with influencers?