The Reading / Listening - 'The Odyssey' - Level 1

The movie 'The Odyssey' has broken box office records. The three-hour-long film made $290,000 from just one London cinema. The previous record was held by 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' in 2017. 'The Odyssey' is doing well in the US. It had the biggest opening weekend of the year for a non-animated film. The world's largest cinema group said its ticket sales were high. It had screenings at 2 am and 3 am in some cities. Almost all tickets were sold.

'The Odyssey' is an action fantasy film. It was directed by Christopher Nolan. It is based on a 2,700-year-old poem written by the Greek poet Homer. It is about a king called Odysseus. He goes on a ten-year journey to get home after fighting in the Trojan War. He meets many mythical creatures. Nolan has received a lot of praise. A movie expert said Nolan is the only director who could take an old story like this "and make it a pop culture event".

Try the same news story at these levels:

    'The Odyssey' - Level 0 'The Odyssey' - Level 2   or  'The Odyssey' - Level 3

Sources
  • https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/the-odyssey-uk-ireland-box-office-1236816591/
  • https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/19/business/media/the-odyssey-box-office-christopher-nolan.html
  • https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jul/20/the-odyssey-box-office


Make sure you try all of the online activities for this reading and listening - There are dictations, multiple choice activities, drag and drop activities, sentence jumbles, which word activities, text reconstructions, spelling, gap fills and a whole lot more. Please enjoy :-)

Phrase Matching

Paragraph 1

  1. The three-hour-long film made
  2. The previous record was held
  3. 'The Odyssey' is doing
  4. It had the biggest opening
  5. The world's largest cinema
  6. It had screenings at
  7. in some
  8. Almost all tickets
  1. cities
  2. well in the US
  3. were sold
  4. $290,000
  5. 2 am and 3 am
  6. by Star Wars
  7. group
  8. weekend

Paragraph 2

  1. 'The Odyssey' is an action
  2. It is based on a 2,700-
  3. It is about a king
  4. He goes on a ten-
  5. fighting in the
  6. He meets many mythical
  7. Nolan has received a lot
  8. a movie
  1. creatures
  2. called Odysseus
  3. Trojan War
  4. expert
  5. fantasy film
  6. of praise
  7. year-old poem
  8. year journey

Listening — Listen and fill in the gaps

The movie 'The Odyssey' (1) _________________________________________________ office records. The three-hour-long film made $290,000 (2) _________________________________________________ London cinema. The previous record (3) _________________________________________________ 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' in 2017. 'The Odyssey' is (4) _________________________________________________ the US. It had the biggest opening weekend of the year for a non-animated film. The world's largest cinema group said (5) _________________________________________________ were high. It had screenings at 2 am and 3 am (6) _________________________________________________. Almost all tickets were sold.

'The Odyssey' (7) _________________________________________________ fantasy film. It was directed by Christopher Nolan. It (8) _________________________________________________ a 2,700-year-old poem (9) _________________________________________________ Greek poet Homer. It is about a king called Odysseus. He goes on a ten-year (10) _________________________________________________ home after fighting in the Trojan War. He meets many mythical creatures. Nolan has received a lot of praise. A movie expert said Nolan is (11) _________________________________________________ who could take an old story like this "and make it a (12) _________________________________________________".

Put a slash (/) where the spaces are

Themovie'TheOdyssey'hasbrokenboxofficerecords.Thethree-hour-
longfilmmade$290,000fromjustoneLondoncinema.Thepreviousrec
ordwasheldby'StarWars:TheLastJedi'in2017.'TheOdyssey'isdoingw
ellintheUS.Ithadthebiggestopeningweekendoftheyearforanon-ani
matedfilm.Theworld'slargestcinemagroupsaiditsticketsaleswerehig
h.Ithadscreeningsat2amand3aminsomecities.Almostallticketswere
sold.'TheOdyssey'isanactionfantasyfilm.ItwasdirectedbyChristophe
rNolan.Itisbasedona2,700-year-oldpoemwrittenbytheGreekpoetHo
mer.ItisaboutakingcalledOdysseus.Hegoesonaten-yearjourneytog
ethomeafterfightingintheTrojanWar.Hemeetsmanymythicalcreatur
es.Nolanhasreceivedalotofpraise.AmovieexpertsaidNolanistheonly
directorwhocouldtakeanoldstorylikethis"andmakeitapopcultureeve
nt".

Student survey

Write five GOOD questions about this topic in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper. When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

(Please look at page 12 of the PDF to see a photocopiable example of this activity.)

Discussion — Write your own questions

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

(a) ________________

(b) ________________

(c) ________________

(d) ________________

(e) ________________

(f) ________________

(g) ________________

(h) ________________

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

(i) ________________

(j) ________________

(k) ________________

(l) ________________

(m) ________________

(n) ________________

(o) ________________

(p) ________________

Free writing

Write about this topic for 10 minutes. Comment on your partner’s paper.

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Answers

(Please check your answers against the article above.

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