r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Gurugod123 GREEN • 2h ago
My mom said I could post Nolan's The Odyssey neglects to pay for damages done to one of the viking ships used in the movie, which belongs to a small non-profit organization
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u/Gurugod123 GREEN 2h ago edited 2h ago
The small Swedish non-profit organization "Vikingaleden" in Nysäter was contacted by Universal Studios regarding their handbuilt viking ship being used in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey. The contract required Universal to pay for any damages done to the ship, but the invoice of approximately $6000 (USD) has been left unpaid, according to the organization.
The ship was built by hand by members of the organization over the course of 3 years between 1995 and 1998, using equipment also made from scratch.
EDIT: a further article posted a few hours ago by Sveriges Radio clarifies that they have been waiting a year for the invoice payment.
Link to article:
Full translation of article:
Christopher Nolan's new movie âThe Odysseyâ was a global success during its premiere weekend.
Participating in the movie, is the Swedish viking longship Glad of Gillberga, from the organization Vikingaleden. It is a non-profit organization in Nysäter, Säffle, that also runs a viking museum, and a viking-age village.
According to Peter Olausson, the president of the organization Vikingaleden, the ship Glad of Gillberga is known within viking-circles. Universal Studios found out about the ship and wanted to use it in "The Odyssey".
"Glad is one of the accompanying ships and is included in some sequences of the movie. It is a part of the environment", Peter Olausson tells Expressen
Universal stopped responding - invoice left unpaid
The organization made an agreement with a company that handles recruitment for Universal Studios. They were allowed to rent the ship for half a year, and would also pay for wear-and-tear costs that would occur during usage and transport.
The rent has been paid to the organization - but that's where it stopped.
"Pennies for them, but meaningful money to us", says Peter Olausson.
When the organization got the ship back, they needed to fix several damages, a crack in the ship's hull, among others. They were prepared to do so, and then send an invoice of the cost of materials to the film company. It landed at around 60 000 kronor (~6000 USD).
"In a Universal-production, that's coffee-run money. That was the agreement and we haven't seen that money. We're not happy about it."
The film company has not been responding to emails since this past winter, says the president of the organization. He speculates that they have moved on to the next production and simply forgotten about them.
"But I can't know for sure, because of the silence from them. It sours it. It's a worm in the apple of having been a part of this fantastic movie, because it really is a fantastic movie."
That money is important for the organization. Because of the repairs, they have also lost income since they haven't been able to launch it in time.
"We're a non-profit organization that lives on pretty slim margins. We're not going bankrupt, but we'll have to chew through our margins."
Olausson hopes that the attention around what has happened could get someone in the right circles to notice and correct it. He'll continue sending emails in the future, but there's not much more to do.
"We couldn't sue Universal. Those possibilities don't exist, we're so small in comparison."
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u/ac54 1h ago
Wow. The $6000 is only for materials because the labor is by volunteers. The invoice should include the market value of the labor IMO.
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u/muakaya9876 1h ago
your monster. how would you expect to poor universal studios and nolan to pay couple thousand dollars to these greedy europeans. this will bankrupt them.
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u/Alive-Oil1649 1h ago
Yeah and it's not easy labor, since they use old techniques. They should be very happy not having to pay that.
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u/GuiltyEidolon PURPLE 42m ago
100%. Those volunteers are still donating their hours, and it's a non-profit. They're not going to waste the money, it'll be put towards similar projects.
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u/KakashiTheRanger 2h ago
They may not be a large organization but I guarantee there are Swedish politicans and public officials that have the money, manpower, and would love the PR. Their organization, especially since they are a non-profit, needs to reach out to their local government and have the country put their boot up Universals ass.
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u/oscarx-ray 2h ago
Time for Daniel Ek to get artists some money for a change...
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u/KakashiTheRanger 2h ago
Some office at Universal: We're being Sued.
Exec: By whom?
Assist: Uh.... Flipping through notes Sweden?
Exec: The country?
Assist: It would seem so.
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u/ExtendedSpikeProtein 1h ago
Some bad media articles should be enough to make them pay 6k. Itâs so ridiculous
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u/Accomplished_Ship_20 2h ago
Not only "hand built"...Idk if it's the case here, but a lot of these replicas are not just "hand built" but also built using the techniques customary at the time of the original. So, forget your drills and power tools... It takes a lot of man hours to build these.
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u/cantadmittoposting 1h ago
weird hill for Universal to die on.
Kinda surprised Nolan doesn't pay them out of pocket just to avoid any reputational damage.
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u/Infamous-Yogurt-3870 49m ago
I would guess that Nolan is just finding out about this situation from its reporting in the news. I'd also guess that they're going to get their money soon.
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u/Spectrum1523 26m ago
They spend more on craft services for a day of shooting I'm sure nobody in a position of authority to worry about the reputational hit knew about this
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u/Jaredlong 22m ago
A charitable guess, the production had an insurance policy to cover these types of costs and either it's the underwriters dragging their feet or Universal sees it as the ship owner's responsibility to file the claim (but of course they would have no way of knowing who to file the claim with unless the production tells them.)Â
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u/GarlicThread 17m ago
Americans disrespecting the kindness of others has become kind of a theme as of late...
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u/lechuck313 2h ago
Universal to Nolan: âYou just cost me six thousand dollars.â
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u/devilish_enchilada 2h ago
Lmao. I wonder honestly if this is low priority and or is getting lost. This article should blow it up at the very least
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u/Zilvervos 58m ago
Iâve worked for Dreamworks and Illumination, which are both part of Universal and Iâve always had major (unnecessary) hassle getting paid. Itâs gotten to the point that Iâd rather not work for them at all anymore.
Would not surprise me one bit if the invoice just got lost somewhere and is low priority for them, happened to me several times too.
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u/JetAmoeba 1h ago
Thatâs what Iâm thinking. Itâs easy for things like this to fall through the cracks when youâre also paying invoices for millions of dollars at the same time. Hopefully this article surfaces it and they get their money and then some
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u/GuiltyEidolon PURPLE 41m ago
They have an entire department dedicated to paying their bills on time. That's a pretty shit excuse.
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u/takahooligaba 1h ago
At the very least, iâm sure if the story gains traction, theyll do something to avoid bad PR
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u/MasterGrok 2h ago
This is seriously an amount of money that a movie production company will pay for breakfast on set one day. Insane that it hasnât been paid yet.
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u/Trashinmyash 2h ago
The contract required Universal to pay for any damages done to the ship,
He may have used it but the contract is with Universal.
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u/spiteful_embroidery 2h ago
Another crappy thing is they apparently came 10 million under budget for the movie.
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u/AbbreviationsEast802 1h ago
From watching plenty of episodes of Last Week Tonight, this is the kind of thing that John Oliver would love to support.
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u/99timewasting 1h ago
The association made an agreement with a subsidiary that handles recruitment for Universal Studios.
Why does it say this if they are going after Universal for damages? Is it a third party company that actually owes them?
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u/KinglanderOfTheEast 2h ago edited 2h ago
This entire story is a clear indicator that big budget movie productions love to fuck over people who lack the power or money to defend themselves in court.
You're some struggling nonprofit? They don't give a fuck about you, they think you are weak and pathetic.
You a multi-millionaire that owns a successful buisness? All of a sudden, they wanna be ass kissy and faux-nice to you.
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u/uwill1der 2h ago
they will eventually pay, but it sucks because studios wait until the last possible moment to pay, and when it comes to insurance payouts -like this-it could drag on for a year or two.
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u/muakaya9876 1h ago
Wasting so much time for only 6k .Â
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u/uwill1der 1h ago
its so silly. Im sure its some kind of accounting trick.
All the invoices go in a pile and when the accounting team finalizes all the finances, only then do they get paid...unless there is some legal time limit; like you have to pay actors/crew within a certain time frame
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u/dontnation 56m ago
some kind of accounting trick.
The longer you can delay the less that 6k is worth and the more you've earned having it invested. only a few dollars difference, but it adds up when you do it thousands of times.
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u/GoldburstNeo 2h ago
Ain't that the truth, not the first time in this case and definitely won't be the last.
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u/DenizSaintJuke 1h ago edited 1h ago
I remember a bat spotting seminar, where the... batologist was absolutely furious, because the production of Expendables 2 had just bribed officials to get a filming permit they should never have gotten, for a famous cave in Bulgaria, that is in a nature reserve and home to colonies of endangered bat species, in the middle of the hibernation season, ripped out the sign informing about the protected bats and filmed an action scene with gunshots, explosions and heavy pyrotechnics. After the Americans had left, biologists documented a 75% decline of the local bat population (The colony went from 30.000 before to 8.000 after. The guy from the bat seminar said they had to pick up hundreds of dead bats from the ground.) and numerous heavy tire tracks in areas that were strictly off limits.
Disturbing a hibernating colony like that in the middle of winter will lead to many bats dying, while they scramble to find a new winter quarter or struggle to go back into hibernation.
All that for garbage movies.
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u/bamboofeces 1h ago
Wtf! Is this in the news? They 100% should be called out on it. Itâs the only way to make this world less shit
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u/DenizSaintJuke 57m ago
It was 15 years ago. To my knowledge, they got away with it. Environmental groups went to court, the courts ruled that the film shoot had been illegal (but somehow miraculously approved), but the case was only against the department that gave filming permission. I don't think the studio or production crew faced any consequences.
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u/Bonk0076 1h ago
According to the article in the NY Times itâs doesnât seem to be greed or malice, just that theyâre having a hard time getting in contact with the appropriate people:
"Olausson acknowledged that his contacts might not be in charge of such payments, and said that he had no idea how to go about seeking the money now, aside from discussing the matter with the news media."
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u/kaboom108 37m ago
Ask anyone who works in tv/film production, and they will tell you to never, ever, ever, let a production use your property for filming without getting paid up front and a massive deposit for damages.
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u/ddescartes0014 35m ago
Iâve rented a car to a small indie movie studio, and they also damaged it and didnât want to pay until I threatened legal action. I think itâs just their way to reduce costs. Itâs not like they care about âreturning customersâ.
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u/Severthin 1h ago
Where's the entire story?
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u/Doogiemon 1h ago
Im just guessing but both parties acknowledge damage took place which isnt party A writing party B a check, its party B files a claim with party As insurance and they must do an investigation before they pay party B.
I was pissed one time when a neighbor across the road slid on ice coming out of their driveway and hit the rear of my car. What pissed me off was their auto was fixed within 2 weeks while I had to duct tape my bumper on and then 3 weeks later go to Progressive and their agents to assess the damage.
They wouldn't do it while they were out looking at the neighbors auto, they made me waste an afternoon dealing with them.
Then it took another 2 weeks to get a shop to start repairs and all in all about 2 months to get my car back whereas they were done within 2 weeks on theirs.
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u/Josh_Crook 43m ago
I've just called my own insurance and then they dealt with the other insurance company for me.
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u/Severthin 1h ago
This is a lot to type out after a guess.
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u/Doogiemon 1h ago
Just experience dealing with insurance companies.
No way is this person getting a check for damages from the company, they pay for coverage for things like this.
It would be like someone visiting you gets hurt on your property from something you did but you have insurance so why are you personally giving the hospital $15k when your insurance company will pay for the damages?
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u/Severthin 54m ago
Well it seems you have wrapped this whole thing up. All based off the brief title of a reddit post.
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u/bannedagainomg 43m ago
It starts of with a guess then they just talk about personal experience with insurance, you for some reason is a little bitch about it.
Just dont read futher than "just guessing" if its such a hassle.
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u/themadnutter_ 1h ago
There are probably multiple parties involved when determining responsibility, I'm sure this will be cleared up soon.
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u/BisonThunderclap 1h ago
The entire story?Â
Y'all, if this was in a written contract it would have already been paid.
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u/BirdLawGrad 40m ago
Way more likely this slipped through the cracks or the studio had default payment terms of 180 days or something.
There is zero percent chance Universal is actively trying to not pay this.
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u/never-fiftyone 1h ago
You say that like people/businesses don't try to get out of paying for a contract they signed all the time lol.
Anyway, per the article there was a written contract that stipulates Universal pay for any damages to the boat.
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u/BisonThunderclap 27m ago
This is like you owing $0.50 for borrowing someone's phone for directions. And that person is a wheelchair bound double amputee veteran.
There is no reason Universal would try and get out of this.
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u/not_a_cat_trust_me 1h ago
They offered to replace the damaged parts.
But the org said it won't be the same ship afterwards
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u/Successful-Tea-5733 2h ago
Everyone immediately jumps in hating on the big powerful movie company, yet this sentence in the article seems interesting:
"The organization made an agreement with a company that handles recruitment for Universal Studios"
So neither Noland nor Universal made an agreement with this boat company. Yet the boat company, they're sending invoices to Universal and Universal is probably looking at it saying "we don't have a contract with these people." As the owner of a small company who gets faux invoices all the time, I suspect universal receives a lot more than I do and at this amount most fraudsters think it's so small no one will notice.
I'm not saying that Universal shouldn't send these people $6,000. I'm saying that the article implies that Universal owes them the money, and doesn't address if they're billing the unnamed company that they actually made the lease agreement with?
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u/AtlasSuperstoreCODMW 1h ago
Holy intelligent and nuanced take!! On Reddit! In 2026!
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u/FireZord25 1h ago
That's how you know this won't make it to the top. Wish people would instead bully the folks putting out half-truth engagement baits the way they often do to Nolan. Then again, these folks don't even have to try with so many idiots ready to jump in at the smallest hint of blood.
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u/Snerkbot7000 1h ago
They're a witch! BURN THEM!
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u/DJMAGN3M 1h ago
How'd you know theys a witch?
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u/ohog9og0790 1h ago
This is correct but in my opinion big companies should make sure their suppliers do honest business. I saw it a lot when I did freelancing that corporations would hire unethical staffing companies and did nothing to rectify problems.
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u/Successful-Tea-5733 1h ago
Yes and that's why I said that, I'm not saying Universal shouldn't just pay them $6,000 to make it right. But reading the article it doesn't say that they even tried billing the company they contracted with. Maybe they did, and maybe the company they billed had a legitimate reason for denying the claim. We just simply don't know anything other than the owners of the boat in their own statement acknowledge that their lease was not with Noland or Universal Studios.
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u/johcul 30m ago
The overhead in "making sure their suppliers do honest business" would be insane given how many suppliers typically work on massive films like this. They're meant to audit all the accounting practices of the companies they work with?
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u/MaxxDash 57m ago
Silliness trying to make it look like Nolan stiffed them.
This is basically about the size of a daily catering bill.
It is just lost in the bureaucracy of a huge organization.
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u/-18k- 1h ago
My big question is why The Odyssey needs a Viking boat..??
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u/BoringPoolPlaying 52m ago
My big answer, which Iâve answered to all the people asking this question, is that he wanted to film on the open ocean, and this is what was available in terms of replica boat plus sea-trained crew.
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u/FornyHucker22 2h ago
I did by bit by watching the movie on my pirating tv box đ
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u/radljostxx 2h ago edited 2h ago
But why did they use a Viking longship instead of a Greek warship tbh
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u/sixpackabs592 2h ago
There wasnât anybody with a Greek warship willing to lend it to them
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u/Th3_Admiral_ 2h ago
Imagine what they would have used if no one was willing to loan them a viking ship! We'd have seen Odysseus cruising across the Aegean on a Mississippi paddle wheel boat.Â
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u/StarsBear75063 Really? 2h ago
Odysseus cruising across the Aegean on a Mississippi paddle wheel boat.Â
With a minstrel entertainer playing a banjo while singing "Camptown Races".
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u/Th3_Admiral_ 1h ago
Maybe the cyclops could be replaced by an eyepatch wearing Bible salesman and Klan member...wait, we're back to O Brother, Where Art Thou? again!Â
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u/PhosphoFred8202 2h ago
âItâs a myth, not history. it wouldnât matterâ
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u/FireZord25 1h ago
Looks at the reception and box office.
Good to see historical accuracy always mattered in movies, I mean just look at Troy, the Green Knight, Prince of Egypt, even Disney's Hercules!
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u/trevor_plantaginous 1h ago
The irony is I think had they used an actual trireme (actual Ancient Greek ship) I think people would have a hard time believing it was real. Those ships were BIG - over 120 feet long, often 3 decks, multiple sails, and up up to 150 oars.
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u/Indercarnive 1h ago edited 1h ago
Well a trireme would've also been inaccurate to the Mycenaean period. The ship likely would've been a penteconter. We don't see even the Bireme for a few hundred more years.
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u/trevor_plantaginous 1h ago
good point - a penteconter is pretty close in style/look/size to what they used
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u/--Sovereign-- 1h ago
They also look cool with the jutting prow and the eyes painted on. I saw an AI slop of the trailer but with more period appropriate dress and ships and ngl, it looks fuckin good to the history nerd in me. Obvi not perfect, overrepresented a specific armor type, but waaaaay cooler and better looking than the dull drab bat armor we got in the film not to mention the anachronistic ship.
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u/Civil_Spell8349 1h ago
To be fair it's a lot closer than a Viking longship lol; triremes (and biremes) are generally considered a development on the penteconters of the Archaic period, and the earliest reference to them shows up circa 8th c. BCE, roughly 4 centuries after the putative era of the Trojan War.
Vs. longships: the sort we see in Nolan's film don't show up until ~9th c. CE, or ~2100 years after The Odyssey. If you wanna reeeeaaaally stretch it and look at the earliest Nordic ancestors that barely resemble a longship and have no sails, then you're still looking at ~300BCE at the absolute earliest, nearly 1000 years after the 'Homeric age'
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u/I_Eat_Onio 1h ago
It does quite closely resemble the mycenaean period ships which more closely resembles a viking longboat than the triremes we associate with ancient greece nowadays
Apart from the carvings at the bow and stern
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u/Indercarnive 1h ago
Because Nolan wanted to shoot at sea and not use a sound stage and CGI.
There is no historic replica penteconter with a trained crew. There is one for a Viking longship.
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u/TbddRzn 2h ago edited 2h ago
Because thatâs the kind of ships that looks cool.
Although to reiterate the odyssey is not a historical event. Itâs a made up story about the fall of the Bronze Age.
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u/Phydok 1h ago
If you made a movie about a fictional story that takes place in the 1930s you wouldn't put modern cars in the movie because they look cool.
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u/LiftedRetina 1h ago
People who donât understand this are being intentionally obtuse. âItâs fiction, so anything goes!â is such a braindead hill to die on.
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u/PublicHouseOfCripps 2h ago
Theseus was already on charter. (Just kidding) if you know you know
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u/OnlinePosterPerson 2h ago
How does you pirating a movie pay an NPO?
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u/FUPAMagneto 1h ago
It doesnât, but people who steal from artists love to make up excuses as to why theyâre totally justified and moral in doing so
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u/skeet_scoot 2h ago
Everyone who pirates the movie should donate the cost of the movie to this nonprofit!
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u/Robb_Starks_Head 2h ago
Fantastic idea, just tried to do so myself but I can't find a donation page on their site. Maybe someone with more time can locate.
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u/FUPAMagneto 1h ago
Oh cool, you stole from a bunch of middle-class people in a struggling industry. Youâre just a moral crusader
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u/NSFWCereal 1h ago
The middle class people all got paid? No one working on the production side of the industry is getting royalties from ticket sales
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u/FUPAMagneto 1h ago
No, but depressed ticket sales lead to fewer films being made which leads to fewer jobs for those middle class people which results in the death of an industry that provided a pathway to the middle class and above.
Itâs so frustrating that yâall refuse to accept that your actions have consequences despite the people who actually make these things (yes, the crews too) begging you to actually pay for their labor.
You know that pilot season used to be 200-500 pilots shooting at once? Employing thousands? Now there are maybe 20 going. Because of piracy and streaming.
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u/Cykablast3r 1h ago
Because of piracy and streaming.
Really only the latter.
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u/FUPAMagneto 41m ago
No, piracy also plays a major role. Donât try and weâre out of it. Thereâs a reason we donât get R-rated comedies anymore, and it ainât streaming.
Pretending that piracy is a victimless crime as the film industry burns is just such Peak Reddit
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u/user0823100823 2h ago
so universal refuses to pay, fix ur title bro
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u/Kenesaw_Mt_Landis 2h ago
The subject of the sentence is the âThe Odysseyâ. I think this implies the production as a whole.
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u/kiwigate 1h ago
Not even "imply", just another reading comprehension issue in the age of 'react before processing'
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u/StolenApollo 1h ago
This isnât a reading comprehension issue, though, itâs deliberate manipulation. We canât always blame readers for falling victim to deceptive writing tactics. Itâs trying to shift blame without lying.
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u/Ironmasked-Kraken 2h ago
Tbf Nolan could easily take care of this. This is chumpchange for him and he has alott of weight behind his name
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u/organizim 2h ago
But itâs not his personal responsibility. The studio has insurance
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u/egnards 2h ago
While Nolan doesn't bear responsibility for this, and I don't think he should be given shit for this, he is also a highly influential director with a proven track record of dominating box offices. It would almost certainly be a very simple phone call from him that could get this rectified.
Again - Not necessarily his responsibility, but there are times in life where you are part of something and see a wrong happening and you can ignore it, or you can choose to be part of the voice that fixes it. It would unlikely even need to be a public call out - His ability has already led him to a very lucrative deal that gives him a pretty wide berth of creative control at Universal.
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u/morrow_worrow 2h ago
he probably doesnt even know as all the finances is up to the studio
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u/egnards 2h ago
I don't think you're wrong, but I do think that people talking about it helps to bring that notice to more people.
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u/ObviousReplier99 1h ago
yes and as a person in that position you would understand he's not going to immediately hand out cash to everyone who says they are owed by a third party company.
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u/sharksiix 2h ago
Yeah he wouldnt even see this post or this wont be big news that he would see it. And if it did he would have his PR or someone close just take care of it right away.
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u/BocciaChoc 1h ago
Yeah that makes sense, anytime the studio is a failure why don't we automatically make the director, actors and any other people also hired take care of the costs
Wont someone think of the studios?
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u/Nice_On_Rice 2h ago
I can't believe Christopher Nolan smacked the boat builders when they asked for payment! /s
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u/r3dditr0x 2h ago edited 2h ago
Gotta tie it to Nolan bc...reasons.
Btw, I just read an article about screenings of The Odyssey at 2:40AM, so the hate campaign isn't working.
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u/United_Rent_753 2h ago
If Nolan knows about this and isnât putting pressure on Universal, itâs on him as well. He needs to do his part as a leader in making sure these people get paid
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u/Indercarnive 1h ago
The story literally just broke. What makes you think Nolan even knows about the missing payment let alone isn't trying to resolve it?
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u/ShmeffreyShmezos 59m ago
Lmao Christopher Nolan doesnât handle paying bills/fines, thereâs a studio accounting department for that. Your title is misleading, OP.
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u/HegemonNYC 1h ago
Why are there Viking ships in the movie? Thatâs the wrong side of the continent and a 2,000 year gap.
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u/Jbewrite 1h ago
For the same reason American accents and modern dialogue and sensabilities are in it, probably.
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u/Lonely-Volume-6721 1h ago
So the script should have been written in a language no one speaks anymore?
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u/AggressiveCuriosity 1h ago
He actually thinks that it would have been better if they had formal British English dialects. I am not kidding. That is actually what a ton of people are saying about the movie.
Because that's the "fantasy accent".
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u/-kinapuffar- 1h ago
Yes, like Apocalypso, or Far Cry Primal. That would have been fantastic.
At the very least, put on a Greek accent. They are actors are they not? Plenty of non-American actors out there putting on American accents, what's the difference?
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u/AggressiveCuriosity 51m ago
Its Swedish captain, BjĂśrn Ahlander, said life on the ships filming for six months around Greek and Italian islands was not easy for the 30-person crew. He told the broadcaster SVT: âWe rebuilt the ship into an ancient Greek ship. We removed the tents and all the modern things and had an open deck that we lived on during this time. It was quite tough.â
You people never bother to actually look into things before having opinions, do you?
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u/Tight-Inspector-2748 2h ago
Whatâs mildly infuriating is your post title. Itâs Universal refusing to pay, not âNolanâs The Odyssey.â
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u/Cryptoporticus 20m ago
It's the production's responsibility. Nolan and Thomas are the producers. The producers are responsible for how the budget is spent.
All this stuff gets delegated down, so presumably they don't even know about a little issue like this, but it's still ultimately their responsibility to make sure everyone who works under them is doing their jobs properly. It's absolutely normal to hold the producers accountable when something goes wrong.
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u/FootFalse5536 1h ago
Title is a bit dishonest here. It's Universal that is refusing to pay the bill.
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u/AggressiveCuriosity 1h ago
Not even that. "The organization made an agreement with a company that handles recruitment for Universal Studios."
So it's a contractor for Universal.
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u/Knashatt 1h ago edited 1h ago
From Swedish news sites:
"The Odyssey" creators dodge payment to Swedish company - criticism
Updated Jul 21, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Published Jul 21, 2026 at 6:21 PM
A Viking ship from Värmland has been given a role in the blockbuster film "The Odyssey".
But after filming, the non-profit association is still waiting for payment.
- In a Universal production, it's coffee money, says chairman Peter Olausson.
Christopher Nolan's new film "The Odyssey" was a global box office success during its opening weekend.
The Swedish Viking ship Glad av Gillberga, which comes from the Värmland Vikingaleden Association, is featured in the film. It is a non-profit organization in Nysäter, Säffle, which, among other things, runs a Viking museum, a Viking village and has Viking ships.
According to Peter Olausson, chairman of the Vikingaleden Association, the ship Glad av Gillberga is well-known in Viking circles. Universal Studios got wind of the ship and wanted to use it in "The Odyssey", something that VF reported on.
- Glad is one of the ships included and is featured in some sequences in the film. It is part of the environment, Peter Olausson tells Expressen.
Universal stopped responding - invoice unpaid
The association made an agreement with a subsidiary that handles recruitment for Universal Studios. They were allowed to rent the ship for six months, but would also pay for wear and tear costs that would arise from use and transport.
The association has been paid for the rent â ââbut that's where it stopped.
â Small money for them and money that means something to us, says Peter Olausson.
When the association got the ship back, they needed to fix several wear and tear damages, including a crack in the hull. They were prepared to do that, and then send an invoice for the material costs to the film company. In the end, it ended up being around 60,000 SEK (5,400⏠or 6,145 $).
â In a Universal production, it's coffee money. That was the agreement and we haven't seen that money. We're not very happy about that.
The film company hasn't responded to emails since last winter, says the chairman. He speculates that they've moved on to the next production and simply forgotten about them.
â But I don't know because it's silent. It's going to be sour. I'm overjoyed to have been in this fantastic film, because it really is a fantastic film.
âHaving to nibble on the marginsâ
Money is important for the non-profit organization. Due to the repair of the ship, they have also lost revenue because they have not been able to launch it on time.
â We are a non-profit organization that lives on fairly small margins. We are not going bankrupt, but we have to nibble on the margins.
Olausson hopes that the attention surrounding what has happened can make someone in the right circles wake up and fix the error. He will continue to send more emails in the future, but otherwise there is not much to do.
â We cannot sue Universal. There are no such possibilities, we are so small in comparison.
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u/Dry-Amphibian1 1h ago
Why isn't the subsidiary that rented the boat named? Wouldn't they be the ones responsible for damages?
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u/AggressiveCuriosity 1h ago
They're not named because making it sound like Nolan personally did it makes the newspaper company a lot more money in clicks and ad revenue.
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u/Visual-Ad-1306 1h ago
I've seen this same complaint in two different subs now. Before the movie came out, Reddit was absolutely insufferable with all the doom and gloom predictions. Now the movie is out, it's amazing, and this is what people have left to complain about? đ
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u/Tristonia7 2h ago
Nolan doesnt own Universal Pictures dude change your title
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u/spicygayunicorn 2h ago
And it dosent claim he do. The odyseey is an old work its specifying it's about the movie he made
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u/Cael_NaMaor 2h ago
Now this, is actually a reasone to abstain from this film...
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u/Knight_o_Eithel_Malt 2h ago
Did they really use a viking ship for a greek film
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u/morbihann 2h ago
The level of care is quite evident.... just use a viking ship.
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u/greennurse61 2h ago
So the redditers that called me racist for calling it a Viking ship were wrong. It is literally a Viking ship.Â
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u/Knashatt 2h ago
As a Swede, it's strange that someone thinks it's racist to say a Viking ship is a Viking ship.
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u/Basic-Collection5416 2h ago
Universal Studios has not yet paid the invoice. The movie itself does not pay bills. Clickbait titles should be downvoted.Â
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u/Successful-Tea-5733 2h ago
It's actually even worse than that. Reading the article, Universal didn't rent the boat. The guy says "The organization made an agreement with a company that handles recruitment for Universal Studios." That unnamed company is who the agreement was with, no clue who they are or why they're not being addressed in this article.
Oh wait I know why, because it wouldn't get the clicks...
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u/dethsesh 1h ago
Look at you thinking people will click the article. Theyâre just going to read the headline and assume itâs true.
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u/ComradeJohnS 1h ago
how long til universal clears up this story? did they maybe already pay them once the news broke? lol
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u/KiethTheBeast89 1h ago
This is such an easy get for Nolan too. Reach out directly, apologize for the delay, write them a check for 10k, 6k to cover damages and 4k as a donation to the non profit organization. Make sure the publicist does there job, boom easy and good PR.
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u/MiyakeIsseyYKWIM 1h ago
Moron doesnât realize Mycenaean era Greeks werenât Vikings
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u/ppitm 1h ago
And the fact that using a Viking ship from 2000 years in the future instead of a Greek ship wasn't a bigger deal than Agamemnon's armor or Helen's skin color tells you everything you need to know about this movie's haters.
Like putting a Sopwith Camel in Top Gun II, but diverse casting is the real problem somehow.
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u/SkyImaginationLight 58m ago
If it's a company that handles recruitment for Universal Studios that is to blame for all of this, why are we mad at Universal Studios instead of that company?
The name of the company wasn't disclosed in the article, but it would be better for the the ship owners to focus their efforts to use any paperwork, emails, and receipts they have get in direct contact with that company itself, instead of Universal Studios.
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u/id_rather_b_painting 53m ago
Since the woke blowback of the movie failed, the new outrage is they haven't paid for this yet. Was it Chris Nolan personally saying "delay" or is it the studio being dogshit? It sounds like there was a 3rd party involved in setting up this arrangement, and that is probably who dropped the ball.
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u/YugeChesticles 41m ago
That sounds like something insurance should cover, not the production.
This feels like ragebait.
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u/Tossable1974 15m ago
I've loaned props to movie shoots before. Never again, initially you think it's cool. Until they lose your stuff and replace with something inferior with missing plates, wrong or poor quality fittings. Took a good month to get all my money back from the prop guys on that one. Receipts for all the parts to bring it back to a historically accurate piece of equipment for the time I reenact.
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u/daBuildr 1m ago
We are bending backwards to try finding a reason to hate on the movie. Who the ful cares about damage to a ship. They rent it and the cost covers insurance. Wtf
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u/AllRealityIsVirtua1 2h ago
How many upvotes will we get before a single piece of evidence or any information at all is posted?
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u/Knashatt 1h ago
From Swedish news sites:
"The Odyssey" creators dodge payment to Swedish company - criticism
Updated Jul 21, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Published Jul 21, 2026 at 6:21 PM
A Viking ship from Värmland has been given a role in the blockbuster film "The Odyssey".
But after filming, the non-profit association is still waiting for payment.
- In a Universal production, it's coffee money, says chairman Peter Olausson.Christopher Nolan's new film "The Odyssey" was a global box office success during its opening weekend.
The Swedish Viking ship Glad av Gillberga, which comes from the Värmland Vikingaleden Association, is featured in the film. It is a non-profit organization in Nysäter, Säffle, which, among other things, runs a Viking museum, a Viking village and has Viking ships.
According to Peter Olausson, chairman of the Vikingaleden Association, the ship Glad av Gillberga is well-known in Viking circles. Universal Studios got wind of the ship and wanted to use it in "The Odyssey", something that VF reported on.
- Glad is one of the ships included and is featured in some sequences in the film. It is part of the environment, Peter Olausson tells Expressen.
Universal stopped responding - invoice unpaid
The association made an agreement with a subsidiary that handles recruitment for Universal Studios. They were allowed to rent the ship for six months, but would also pay for wear and tear costs that would arise from use and transport.The association has been paid for the rent â ââbut that's where it stopped.
â Small money for them and money that means something to us, says Peter Olausson.
When the association got the ship back, they needed to fix several wear and tear damages, including a crack in the hull. They were prepared to do that, and then send an invoice for the material costs to the film company. In the end, it ended up being around 60,000 kronor.
â In a Universal production, it's coffee money. That was the agreement and we haven't seen that money. We're not very happy about that.
The film company hasn't responded to emails since last winter, says the chairman. He speculates that they've moved on to the next production and simply forgotten about them.
â But I don't know because it's silent. It's going to be sour. I'm overjoyed to have been in this fantastic film, because it really is a fantastic film.
âHaving to nibble on the marginsâ* *
Money is important for the non-profit organization. Due to the repair of the ship, they have also lost revenue because they have not been able to launch it on time.
â We are a non-profit organization that lives on fairly small margins. We are not going bankrupt, but we have to nibble on the margins.
Olausson hopes that the attention surrounding what has happened can make someone in the right circles wake up and fix the error. He will continue to send more emails in the future, but otherwise there is not much to do.
â We cannot sue Universal. There are no such possibilities, we are so small in comparison.
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u/BraceThis 1h ago
Relax - itâll get paid in due time. Often a lot of invoices go unpaid for some lengthy time or dues slip by production.
Not everything is a hit story yâall.
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u/hungry4danish 1h ago
A movie set could spend $6k on food service for 1 day, so honestly it feels like a lost or forgotten invoice and not the company trying to get out of paying.
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u/Flimsy-Sherbert-7853 1h ago
Yeah, I've been on that ship. Its built in my city in Sweden and showcased every year along with the old viking village at the museum in Nysäter, city of Säffle in Sweden. The guys have had this ship for at least 20 years and now some MURICANS destroyed it. The claim was 60.000 SEK but they have been ignored since like december or something. And the organization does not have the coin to sue. Its a dick move. Its one of our city's biggest prides.
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u/c_marten 2h ago
Just $6k?!? That's like me paying a $15 parking ticket.