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“The Odyssey” is off to an epic start at the box office.
Universal’s action-adventure generated $264.1 million globally over the weekend, including $139.6 million internationally and $124.5 million domestically. It’s
a towering debut for a movie that’s R-rated, nearly three hours in length and isn’t part of a major franchise. Of course, “The Odyssey” isn’t original — it’s adapted from Homer’s roughly 3,000-year-old epic poem — but the film’s initial success is a testament to Nolan’s outsized popularity as a filmmaker. He’s long been a box office draw, having directed blockbusters like “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “Interstellar.” But Nolan reached new levels of acclaim after 2023’s “Oppenheimer” became a box office behemoth and won the Oscar for best picture.
“The Odyssey” marks the biggest worldwide opening of Nolan’s career, ahead of 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises” with $249 million and 2009’s “The Dark Knight” with $198 million. (This benchmark comes with a caveat because ticket sales weren’t adjusted for inflation.) It’s also the third-biggest opening of the year behind behind “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($372.5 million) and “Toy Story 5” ($312 million).
Nolan wrote and directed “The Odyssey,” which stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, who endures a treacherous journey to get home after the Trojan war. Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo round out the starry ensemble. With stellar reviews and great word-of-mouth, “The Odyssey” is primed for a long, long run in theaters.
“The Odyssey” opened in 73 international markets, with top territories including the United Kingdom and Ireland with $17.4 million, France with $13.7 million and Italy with $11.5 million. “The Odyssey” stands as Nolan’s biggest opening in 48 of those territories, including France and Italy, as well as Universal’s largest debut in 11 markets. The film has yet to open in South Korea, China or Japan.
“The Odyssey” is notable as the first feature shot entirely with Imax cameras, and those premium large formats contributed a sizable portion of initial ticket sales. The movie earned $22.2 million internationally (16% of revenues) and $51.8 million globally (23% of revenues) in Imax, delivering the company’s biggest opening in like-for-like markets ahead of “Avengers: Endgame.” And it’s currently pacing 47% ahead of “Oppenheimer,” which was particularly huge in Imax with $35 million worldwide to start and $180 million by the end of its run.
“If you don’t see ‘The Odyssey’ in Imax, you aren’t seeing it in the way that Chris Nolan intended,” says the company’s CEO Richard Gelfond. He called this weekend a “transcendent moment” for Imax, predicting the ripple effect from “The Odyssey” will lead to “more Imax theaters opening and more audiences seeking out” the format.
