Keystone-SDA
The hype surrounding The Odyssey is not confined to cinemas. Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation has also sparked growing interest in Homer’s work in Swiss bookshops.
In German-speaking Switzerland, there has been an increase in demand for Homer’s Odyssey, bookshop Orell Füssli told the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA. The increased demand “is clearly noticeable in our branches and is spread across various editions and versions of the work”.
However, Orell Füssli was unable to quantify the exact percentage increase. They have observed not only a heightened interest in Homer’s Odyssey but also a general increase in demand for literature relating to antiquity.
It is often the case that film adaptations boost demand for the original literary works. In the case of Christopher Nolan’s new film, such an effect was to be expected given the significant media attention, Orell Füssli added. The company had addressed the topic early on in the run-up to the film’s cinema release and prominently displayed the relevant titles in its branches.
Homer’s work has also recently attracted growing interest at the western Swiss bookshop chain Payot. Following a rise of around 17% between 2023 and 2024, sales figures rose by almost 60% in 2025, before soaring by more than 880% in 2026. According to the company, this boom can be attributed in particular to the expansion of the publisher’s catalogue.
Switzerland is thus part of an international trend. In the United Kingdom, sales of printed copies of the Odyssey rose by 1,400% in the four weeks leading up to July 25 compared with the same period the previous year, as shown by data from the market research firm Nielsen IQ.
Christopher Nolan’s epic The Odyssey has been showing in Swiss cinemas since mid-July. According to figures from the cinema umbrella organisation Pro Cinema, the film adaptation has already attracted around half a million cinema-goers. No other film this year has generated such a high level of interest so far.
Not an isolated case
The Odyssey phenomenon is not an isolated case. Harry Potter is a prime example of the interplay between literature and cinema. JK Rowling’s novels had initially reached a large readership before the film adaptations took the hype to a whole new level and further boosted the books’ success in bookshops.
Most recently, the cinema release of the film The Count of Monte Cristo in 2024 also triggered an explosion in book sales. Sales figures for Alexandre Dumas’s novel increased tenfold, and publishers were only able to meet the huge demand by issuing reprints.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
