The Odyssey Opens to 124.5 Million and Pulls the Summer Box Office Back on Track

Christopher Nolan and cast at The Odyssey premiere in 2026. Photo by PhilipRomano / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A 124.5 million debut resets the summer

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” opened to $124.5 million across 3,900 North American screens over the July 17-19 weekend, according to The Hollywood Reporter, delivering 2026’s biggest live-action opening and steadying a summer that had wobbled through several soft debuts. Only the animated “Toy Story 5” ($159 million) and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($131 million) opened higher this year. The result also set the top R-rated opening of 2026 and Universal’s highest weekend launch ever for an R-rated release.

The number beat the studio’s own forecast

The opening ran well past expectations. THR reported that Universal had targeted a domestic debut in the mid-$80 million to $100 million range against the film’s $250 million production budget. Globally, “The Odyssey” collected $264.1 million, adding $139.6 million from 73 international markets, which THR noted makes it Nolan’s biggest worldwide opening ever, topping the $249 million global launch of “The Dark Knight Rises” in 2012.

Premium screens carried the weekend

Large-format screenings drove an outsized share of the gross. The film, which THR reported is the first feature shot entirely on IMAX cameras, pulled $29.6 million from domestic IMAX alone, or 23.8 percent of its North American total, with cinephiles filling the 25 U.S. theaters that project IMAX 70mm film. Premium large formats of all brands accounted for 53 percent of the domestic total, according to THR. Audiences gave the film an A CinemaScore, and it holds a 95 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The star-packed cast drew an older crowd

Matt Damon stars as Odysseus alongside Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron in the retelling of Homer’s poem. THR reported the audience skewed male, with men making up 56 percent of general moviegoers and more than three-quarters of ticket buyers over age 25; half the audience was between 18 and 34. Universal’s domestic distribution chief Jim Orr called the film “exactly the kind of movie on an epic scale that audiences want.”

Relief after a rocky stretch

The opening arrived after several underwhelming weekends, including a disappointing debut for Disney’s live-action “Moana” and soft openings for “Supergirl” and “Minions & Monsters,” THR reported. The trade noted that the win landed the industry a needed lift heading into Sony’s July 31 release of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” the next wide release on the calendar. As of THR’s report, “The Odyssey” marked the third-biggest domestic opening of Nolan’s career, behind only “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Dark Knight.”

References: ‘The Odyssey’ box office: Christopher Nolan lands career-best opening