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On a box office voyage for less than two months, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has become the highest-grossing film in the history of Universal Pictures.
The 114-year-old film company announced the milestone on Saturday,
when the Matt Damon-led epic’s weekend haul will bring its domestic earnings to $601.2 million, with an international tally of $1.083 billion in ticket sales. That’s a grand total of $1.68 billion around the world and a slew of records set along the way.
“What Chris and Emma [Thomas] have created will go down as one of the most ambitious and brilliantly executed films in cinematic history. A generational event that galvanizes moviegoing itself,” said Donna Langley, chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment.
Nolan’s meticulously hand-crafted movie, shot across the globe and starring some of the biggest names in Hollywood, recently reclaimed the top box office position in its eighth weekend in theaters. The project represents the biggest opening of Nolan’s career, ahead of “The Dark Knight Rises,” and is now the Oscar winner’s highest-grossing film ever. It was produced by Thomas and Nolan via their Syncopy banner, with executive producer Thomas Hayslip.
More superlatives: “The Odyssey” is the top-grossing R-rated film in history, as well as the biggest earner ever for IMAX. While based on 3,000-year-old IP, the movie is the first non-sequel film to gross over $1 billion overseas since 2009.
It’s not just an undeniable victory for Nolan. Earlier this summer, Variety reported about the legacy marker “The Odyssey” represents for Langley. She brought Nolan into the Uni fold after his decisive departure from Warner Bros. in 2021, paving the way for the best picture winner “Oppenheimer” and, now, the best picture hopeful “Odyssey.”
This weekend’s numbers further cements Universal’s box office dominance in 2026, leading all studios with 26% of the market share and grossing nearly $5 billion to date in 2026. The studio is the first to cross $4 billion at the global box office this year and the first to cross $3 billion at the international box office.
