The Odyssey’s Box Office Triumph

After an incredible opening weekend, Christopher Nolan’s thirteenth feature film The Odyssey has become the third highest grossing debut of 2026, making over $260 million globally. 

With a cast full of Nolan regulars such as Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, as well as A-listers like Zendaya, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong'o and Travis Scott in his debut film role, this marks Nolan's biggest ever opening weekend. 

His previous biggest opening weekend was in 2012 with the release of The Dark Knight Rises, which made $249 million. His last film Oppenheimer was projected to make about $100 million, but totally surpassed this expectation and made $174 million, due largely to the cultural phenomenon of Barbenheimer, which saw both Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig's Barbie released on July 21st, the funny tonal dichotomy causing a trend on social media of people going to see both on the same day. 

The Odyssey too has surpassed its projection of $200 million, and almost $52 million from the film's total came from IMAX screenings, due to Nolan shooting the film on 70mm IMAX cameras. This means that if you watch the film on a regular cinema screen, you’ll miss 40% of the frame. This has been a point of contention for some viewers, but clearly not so much that it has gotten in the way of sales. 

The Odyssey has been given a multitude of (inter)stellar reviews from critics, Manohla Dargis of The New York Times described it as: “a classic in every sense, a transporting affirmation of the art and a work of pure cinema”, and it sits at a 4.3/5 star rating on Letterboxd. 

Its roaring success is even more impressive considering the hefty runtime of three hours, and its R rating (15 in UK), which can significantly hamper sales due to a more limited audience.

Only two R rated films have ever crossed the $1 billion mark, Joker in 2019 and Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024. But with such a profitable opening weekend, The Odyssey is suspected to join the club, although the imminent release of Spider Man: Brand New Day at the end of July could potentially slow its trajectory. 

Written by Jorja Flitcroft