Grok · 24 Oct 2026
Grok Imagine's Odyssey Episode 1 is out. Can Musk's full-length movie still land this year?
xAI's Grok Imagine has released a seven-minute, 4K first episode of Homer's Odyssey, made with AI studio Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker. It's the biggest public step so far toward the promise Elon Musk made in July: a full-length, historically accurate Odyssey movie made with Grok Imagine before the end of 2026. With 68 days left, here's what has actually been delivered, and what hasn't.
On this page
Watch Episode 1 of our Odyssey series made with Grok Imagine.
— Grok Imagine (@imagine) October 23, 2026
Let us know in the comments if you'd like a full breakdown of how it was done!
Creative collaboration with @WonderStudiosX and director Dev Walker @glumlot_
Video: Grok Imagine (@imagine), with Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker (@glumlot_).
What happened
The official Grok Imagine account posted Episode 1 on Friday, Oct. 23, at (shown in your time zone). The video runs 7 minutes 12 seconds and was uploaded in full 4K (3840x2160), according to the post's own media data. Grok Imagine called it a "creative collaboration" with Wonder Studios and Dev Walker, and asked viewers whether they wanted "a full breakdown of how it was done." Wonder Studios followed up with a short line of its own: "Homer didn't have Grok… we do."
Musk quoted the post overnight, at , with four words: "Odyssey with Grok Imagine." By Saturday morning ET, the official post had passed 1.1 million views and Musk's quote about 1.26 million, based on X's public counts on Saturday afternoon (Irish time).
The promise it's chasing
This episode didn't come out of nowhere. On July 21, at , Musk quoted a viral AI-made Odyssey dialogue scene with a specific, time-bound pledge:
Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 22, 2026
To be clear about where things stand: Episode 1 is a completed release. The full-length movie is still a pledge. As far as I can find, neither xAI nor Wonder Studios has said how many episodes are planned, how long the finished series will be, or whether the episodes will be joined into one film.
How we got here: three months, one timeline
| Date (ET) | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| July 21 | Heavy Pulp posts an AI-made Odyssey dialogue scene built on Grok Imagine. It has since passed 16.9 million views. | @heavypulp |
| July 21 | Musk pledges a full-length, historically accurate Odyssey movie before the year ends. | @elonmusk |
| Late Aug. | Grok Imagine runs a public Odyssey contest. On Friday, Aug. 28, it said the contest "ends Monday", which was Aug. 31. | @imagine |
| Sept. 18 | Filmmaker PJ Accetturo's studio makes an Odyssey pilot scene in 9 days, using 3,627 images and 3,043 videos, with generations costing $2,677. | @imagine |
| Sept. 29 | Grok Imagine says Wonder Studios delivered its own Odyssey pilot in 15 days, using 2,070 images and 1,558 videos, and that it's "working on short episodes of the Odyssey," "coming soon." | @imagine, here |
| Oct. 23 | Episode 1 is released: 7:12 long, in 4K. | @imagine |
The shape of the project has changed along the way. In July the pledge was "a full-length movie." By late September, xAI's own wording had shifted to "short episodes." That doesn't mean the movie is off, but the official plan on the record today is a series.
The math on "full-length"
There's no single legal definition of a full-length movie, but the most common benchmark comes from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which counts a film as feature-length if it runs more than 40 minutes. Using that bar, my rough math looks like this:
- To pass 40 minutes: about six episodes the length of Episode 1 (6 x 7.2 = 43 minutes).
- To reach a 90-minute running time: about 13 episodes (90 ÷ 7.2 = 12.5).
- Time left: 68 days from Oct. 24 to Dec. 31. Five more episodes would mean one roughly every 13 days. Twelve more would mean one every five or six days.
- Pace so far: Wonder Studios made its pilot in 15 days, and 24 days passed between the "coming soon" post and Episode 1.
So the 40-minute version looks within reach if the team keeps up its pilot-era pace. A 90-minute film by Dec. 31 would need production to speed up sharply. Those are my estimates from the public numbers, not anything xAI has said.
Why it matters for Grok
The cost line from September is the part worth remembering. A pilot scene that Grok Imagine said Hollywood "would spend 7 figures on" was made for $2,677 in generations, in nine days. xAI hasn't published a cost or crew size for Episode 1, and I haven't seen the "full breakdown" it offered posted yet. If it does come out, the cost per finished minute will be the real test of whether AI can make long-form film cheaply, not just short clips.
It also fits a wider push. In my view, a seven-minute episode with a studio and a named director behind it is the clearest sign yet that xAI wants Grok Imagine seen as a filmmaking tool, not a toy. For more on what xAI has shipped lately, see our Grok page.
Bottom line
Episode 1 is real, it's 4K, and it's seven minutes long. Musk's full-length Odyssey is still a promise with a Dec. 31 deadline, and by my math it would need at least five more episodes like this one to clear the Academy's 40-minute bar.
Sources: Grok Imagine on X (23 Oct 2026); Elon Musk on X (21 Jul 2026 ET); Elon Musk on X (24 Oct 2026); Wonder Studios on X; Heavy Pulp on X; Grok Imagine on X (28 Aug, 18 Sep, 29 Sep, 29 Sep); Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rules. Episode length and resolution are from the post's media data. Episode counts and timing are my own math.
— Alex R
