Nothing could stand between Christopher Nolan and another hit movie. In its first weekend, The Odyssey has made $264.1 million and beating 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises for the biggest opening of his career.
Per Variety, it was a near-even split between domestic ($124.5 million) and international ($139.6 million) markets. Along with setting a new record for Nolan, this is 2026’s third-biggest opening behind Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and is generally impressive for an R-rated movie of its type. Not entirely unexpected, though: Universal started selling tickets a year ago, and the marketing cycle’s been working overtime to make it known to audiences. High reception amongst critics and audiences doesn’t hurt either.
To further sell The Odyssey as a true event, some theaters had overnight (at 2 or 3 AM local time) or early morning (7 and 8 AM) screenings in 70mm IMAX. While IMAX has long been a selling point for blockbusters, but Odyssey is the first movie to be shot entirely on 70mm specifically, hence the marketing push to see it in that specific premium format. (Some theaters even had to get new rooms installed so that version of the film could play.) Being IMAX brained appears to have paid off, as Variety’s reporting reveals premium large formats made up 53% of the film’s domestic take, and 23% (or $51.8 million) of worldwide sales.
Enjoy Odyssey in IMAX for another week, because Spider-Man: Brand New Day will probably take some of its non-70mm theaters on July 31. That movie’s also supposed to have a massive open, possibly the best of the year. And if it lives up to those expectations, it means Tom Holland, Zendaya, and Jon Bernthal will be the current movie gods.
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