‘The Odyssey’ Sees Nearly 50% Drop as Box Office Momentum Slows

For three consecutive weeks, Christopher Nolan’s name alone ensured packed theaters nationwide. ‘The Odyssey’ transformed IMAX venues into a genuine sensation, with premium showtimes selling out weeks ahead and exhibitors scheduling screenings at unusual hours to meet the demand.

However, such dominance in the film industry rarely lasts indefinitely, and this past weekend demonstrated exactly that. A new blockbuster emerged with enough box office power to disrupt even Nolan’s stronghold on the format he had dominated since mid-July.

The impact of this shift is now evident in the daily earnings. ‘The Odyssey’ experienced a staggering nearly 50% drop in its Tuesday earnings, bringing in $8.7 million, marking its lowest-grossing day of the run thus far, as the film continues to lose IMAX screens to Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’

This transition did not occur quietly. IMAX decided to divide its North American screens between the two films after Sony’s superhero sequel had a massive opening weekend, officially ending ‘The Odyssey’s exclusive run on the format. That exclusivity was remarkable, as Spider-Man did not play on a single IMAX screen in North America during its opening frame, yet still managed to clear approximately $360 million domestically without the format’s assistance.

Before this shift, ‘The Odyssey’s’ IMAX numbers were impressive by any standard. The film had amassed $221 million in global IMAX box office to date, making it the third-highest-grossing IMAX title ever, while achieving the best Tuesday performance in IMAX history just weeks earlier at $10.6 million.

This earlier momentum propelled ‘The Odyssey’ past the $900 million mark worldwide, with a third global weekend total of $136.2 million, including $68 million from IMAX screens alone, representing the exhibitor’s second-highest-grossing weekend ever. Universal’s Nolan epic also recorded the director’s best-ever third domestic weekend with $51 million, a performance strong enough to help the studio become the first to surpass $4 billion at the year-to-date worldwide box office in 2026.

The numbers for ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ clarify why IMAX made the change. The Sony and Marvel Studios sequel opened to a staggering $927 million globally, marking the second-best global opening in cinematic history, only behind ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond noted that the franchise has now generated $365 million in IMAX receipts to date, describing ‘Brand New Day’ as a continuation of that legacy with its record-breaking start.

With ‘Spider-Man’ now screening in select IMAX locations across North America starting this month, ‘The Odyssey’ is now sharing screen space for the first time since its release, which helps explain why exhibitors are preparing for the film’s box office to decline further as the weekend approaches. Industry estimates suggest a potential drop of around 50% as the format squeeze intensifies.

Despite the reduced IMAX availability, ‘The Odyssey’ remains one of the year’s most significant box office narratives, still nearing the billion-dollar milestone worldwide after three weekends in theaters.

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