How Universal Made a 8,800-Pound Trojan Horse for ‘The Odyssey’ World Premiere

With almost the full cast in attendance, last week’s “The Odyssey” world premiere in London offered more star power than any other event seen in Leicester Square this year. And yet on the night, the likes of Christopher Nolan, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and many others were somewhat overshadowed — figuratively and literally — by an extremely large inanimate object. Standing on two huge hooves just off from the carpet (this one an aquatic-themed blue with added patches of real sand) loomed a giant Trojan Horse well over two storeys high and easily the most impressive promotional prop many attendees had laid eye on. In details now provided to Variety by Universal, the mighty steed in question — visible from several streets away— was in fact some 36 feet tall and weighed in excess of 8,800 pounds. Commissioned by Universal Pictures International UK & Eire, the construction is actually an exact replica of the wooden horse used in Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” made using the production’s blueprints. It took a team of 34 working a total of 288 hours to put it together using polystyrene, steel, resin tin foil and fibreglass. Bringing the beast — an sumptuous offering to the gods of film distribution — to Leicester Square proved to be a minor Odyssey in itself. Three trucks transported it in four parts and a base which then took six people some nine hours to assemble. It was around the same amount of time to disassemble and put the pieces back in the trucks. In all, designing, building and assembling the horse involved a team of 45, not much less than the number of men on Odysseus’ ship (and roughly the same amount on board after the Cyclops and Scylla monsters had plucked off a few). Ahead of “The Odyssey” release on July 17, the 36-foot horse will next be put back together in London’s Trafalgar Square for just one day on July 13 before getting a four-day stint outside the Westfield London shopping mall from July 16. And while this giant Trojan Horse will be staying in the U.K., that doesn’t mean the U.S. has gone short of enormous mythical stallions. In fact, there are two different horses in the country. At Universal Studios’ CityWalk, the original from the film — last seen on screen in flames as Troy was brutally sacked by Damon’s army of rampaging Greeks — is on display outside the AMC Universal Cinema. The other has already been roaming around, popping up in Venice, Texas and then Miami last month. This Tuesday, New Yorkers will get to marvel at its towering magnificence when it makes its red carpet debut at the U.S. premiere of “The Odyssey” at AMC Lincoln Square 13. But for all of these Trojan Horses’ impressive stats, not to mention the amount of hours needed to build them and and drag them around, it still remains to be seen whether they generate as much awe-struck excitement as a distinctly smaller and more plastic-y promotional steed: “The Odyssey” popcorn bucket.

Read the full report at Variety ↗