Last week’s London world premiere of The Odyssey had the kind of guest list that usually does the promotional work by itself: Christopher Nolan, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and much of the cast all turned up in Leicester Square.

Then Universal parked a 36-foot Trojan Horse nearby, and the humans briefly became supporting players. Fair enough. Even movie stars have limits when competing with an 8,800-pound replica horse.

What Universal built for the London premiere

Universal Pictures International UK & Eire commissioned the enormous prop for the event, and the studio has now shared the construction details with Variety.

The horse was not just loosely inspired by the one in Nolan’s film. It was made as an exact replica of the wooden horse used in The Odyssey, built from the production’s own blueprints. The finished structure stood more than two storeys high, reached 36 feet, and weighed more than 8,800 pounds.

It was placed just off the premiere carpet, which had been styled in aquatic blue with patches of real sand. The setting was dramatic enough, but the horse was reportedly visible from several streets away. Subtle, in the way ancient siege tactics are subtle.

How long did the Trojan Horse take to make?

According to Universal, a team of 34 people spent a combined 288 hours building the replica.

The materials were a practical mix of lightweight and structural components, including:

  • Polystyrene
  • Steel
  • Resin tin foil
  • Fibreglass

That blend helped create something large enough to dominate Leicester Square without requiring an actual Bronze Age army to move it. Still, getting it into place was not exactly a quick errand.

Moving the horse became its own small Odyssey

Transporting the Trojan Horse to Leicester Square took three trucks. The structure arrived in four separate parts, plus its base.

Once on site, six people spent about nine hours assembling it. Taking it apart and loading it back into the trucks took roughly the same amount of time.

Across the design, build and assembly process, Universal said 45 people were involved. That is not far off the number of men on Odysseus’ ship, depending on which stage of the monster-heavy journey you are counting from. Cinema marketing remains less fatal, as a general rule.

Where the 36-foot horse goes next in the UK

The London premiere was not the horse’s final public appearance.

Before The Odyssey opens on July 17, the 36-foot replica is scheduled to appear at two more UK locations:

  • Trafalgar Square in London for one day on July 14
  • Westfield London for a four-day display beginning July 16

The UK version will stay in the country, but Universal has not left American audiences without their own oversized mythological livestock.

The US has more than one giant horse

There are two Trojan Horses in the United States tied to the film’s rollout.

One is the original horse used in The Odyssey, which appears on screen as Troy burns during the assault by Matt Damon’s army of Greeks. That prop is now on display at Universal Studios CityWalk, outside the AMC Universal Cinema.

The other has been travelling as part of the promotional campaign. It has already appeared in Venice, Texas and Miami. On Tuesday, it is due to make its red carpet debut at the US premiere of The Odyssey at AMC Lincoln Square 13 in New York.

The real competition may be smaller

For all the engineering, transport planning and mythic scale involved, Universal’s giant horses still face a very modern rival: The Odyssey popcorn bucket.

It is smaller, more plastic, and much easier to fit in a car. Whether it generates more public excitement than a 36-foot Trojan Horse remains the sort of question only blockbuster marketing can make feel almost reasonable.