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Odysseus has stolen Luke Skywalker’s crown.
Christopher Nolan’s big-screen epic “The Odyssey” has beaten “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” to take first place as the highest-ever three-day gross at the BFI Imax theater in central
London, clocking in at £219,867 ($300,000).
The BFI Imax holds only one screen, which at 20 metres (65 feet) tall and 26 metres (85 feet) wide is the largest in the U.K. It has a 493-seat capacity and is one of only three Imax cinemas in the U.K. with the capability of showing the film in Imax 70mm, as Nolan intended.
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” previously held the theater’s record with a three-day opening weekend gross of £216,454 followed by Nolan’s 2023 hit “Oppenheimer,” which had a three-day opening weekend gross of £207,677.
“The Odyssey,” which has already been breaking numerous records, also shattered the theater’s single-day pre-sale record, selling 28,000 tickets in 24 hours a full year in advance, amounting to a £750,000 in gross revenue. That surpassed the pre-sale record for “Dune: Part Two” and “Oppenheimer,” which took £366,000 and £254,000 respectively in their first 24 hours on sale.
So far, the BFI Imax has sold more than 82,000 admissions resulting in 173 consecutive sold-out Imax 70mm screenings over eight weeks for a total gross of £2,169,882, making it the theater’s third highest grossing film ever so far. The theater has reported fans travelling from as far as Singapore, L.A. and Toronto to see the movie.
“Across the BFI, our commitment to preserving and celebrating celluloid, alongside the filmmakers who continue to champion this format, speaks to the enduring power of storytelling and the unique communal experience of seeing film on film,” said BFI Imax programme manager Madeleine Mullett. “The extraordinary demand for our Imax 70mm presentation of ‘The Odyssey,’ experienced as intended by the filmmakers, is ultimate proof of the appetite audiences have for cinema at its most authentic.”
