Move over, Deadpool: Odysseus has claimed the R-rated box office crown.
More than a month after hitting theaters, Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" has set a major box office record: It is now the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.
Nolan's acclaimed adaptation of Homer's epic poem has now reached a global box office haul of $1.352 billion. This puts it above the $1.338 billion grossed by 2024's "Deadpool & Wolverine," which previously held the record as the top-grossing R-rated movie ever made, not adjusted for inflation.
Taking to X on Aug. 19 to celebrate, "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds congratulated "the entire cast and crew of 'The Odyssey'" on breaking the record and shared a cheeky mash-up clip that placed Odysseus into a scene from
"Deadpool & Wolverine."
Prior to "Deadpool & Wolverine," the record for biggest R-rated movie ever was held by DC's "Joker," which grossed $1 billion worldwide in 2019. "Joker," "Deadpool & Wolverine" and "The Odyssey" are the only three R-rated movies ever to gross $1 billion globally.
Nolan's own Oscar-winning "Oppenheimer," his previous movie before "The Odyssey," is also among the highest-grossing R-rated movies ever, though it came up short of $1 billion, topping out at $975.8 million in 2023.
Featuring a star-studded cast that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland and Anne Hathaway, "The Odyssey" stunned box office analysts when it hit theaters in July, opening to a massive $123.5 million in North America. That was the biggest domestic opening weekend for any of Nolan's films outside of his "Dark Knight" trilogy of Batman movies.
"The Odyssey" went on to outgross "The Dark Knight Rises" worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of Nolan's entire career. As of now, it's the second-highest-grossing movie of 2026 worldwide: The film has outgrossed blockbuster hits like "Toy Story 5" and "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie," an impressive feat given that R-rated movies traditionally don't appeal to as wide an audience as films rated PG or PG-13.
The rousing success of "The Odyssey" cements Nolan as one of the most bankable directors in Hollywood today – and a rare director whose filmography is essentially a franchise in and of itself.
It's also part of a massive summer for Holland, who, between "The Odyssey" and "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," stars in the two biggest movies of 2026. "Brand New Day" has also been breaking its fair share of records: The Marvel blockbuster recently became only the eighth film in history to gross $2 billion worldwide, and it's on its way toward potentially setting a new record as the highest-grossing film in domestic box office history. The record has been held by "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" since 2015.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Odyssey' sets major box office record, toppling a Marvel hit
