The Odyssey, since its July 17th release, has quickly become one of the clear frontrunners for 2026 movie of the year. Within its first three weekends, the grand spectacle grossed nearly $1 billion at the box office.

The movie’s promotional push has featured some of the world’s most renowned actors making media rounds, and Universal gave a major share of access to creators.

Reece Feldman, a film-craft/process creator, shot BTS footage of The Odyssey in Iceland. His video went viral, outdrawing equivalent footage from GQ, 60 Minutes, and People.

Brittany Broski hosted co-stars Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway on her medieval-themed talk show, Royal Court. The video gained over two million views in just two weeks.

Gaming streamer/comedian Tommyinnit was invited to interview Damon, Tom Holland, Benny Safdie, and Himesh Patel for his podcast 100 Questions with Tom Simons.

Rather than routing the tour exclusively through legacy outlets, The Odyssey gave creators substantial responsibility, and their numbers eclipsed mainstream media.

Most outlets would look at these numbers and write the surface-level headline, “Creators are the New Legacy Media.”

However, the more precise and arguably more telling story is that press tours are splitting in two.

Critics still hold the credibility: the Rotten Tomatoes score, the review embargo, the prestige signal that legitimizes a film’s quality.

Creators, however, hold the distribution. Reece Feldman, Brittany Broski, and TommyInnit all appeal to specific, loyal audiences that mainstream platforms can’t reach.

Critics are justifying the film, while creators are spreading the message.

If a studio like Universal simply wanted raw reach, they wouldn’t have brought on so many creators.

The Odyssey press tour reached its success by hitting nearly every corner of the internet through influencer collaborations.

And the creators were booked because their lanes were so specific and legible they couldn’t be copied.

The road to creator legitimacy is through format, not engagement.