‘The Odyssey’ Set to Dethrone ‘Jurassic World’ and Make Universal Pictures History

Christopher Nolan has spent nearly two decades demonstrating that original, non-franchise films can still lead at the box office. This summer, however, has been particularly remarkable even by his high standards. What started as an ambitious three-hour adaptation of Homer’s ancient epic has transformed into the defining theatrical event of the year, with milestones continuing to accumulate.

‘The Odyssey‘ debuted well above expectations in July and has not only maintained its momentum but has also continued to break records throughout an unusually long and steady theatrical run. Strong word-of-mouth propelled it into international markets, culminating in a debut in China that outperformed nearly every previous Nolan film in the region.

Now, the film is on the brink of achieving something even greater. ‘The Odyssey’ is poised to become the highest-grossing Hollywood film not fully or partially owned by Disney at the worldwide box office, surpassing ‘Jurassic World,’ and is also on track to become Universal Pictures’ biggest film ever. This milestone depends on the film crossing $1.67 billion globally, the current lifetime total of ‘Jurassic World,’ a mark that ‘The Odyssey’ is nearing with international releases, including Japan, still to come.

Christopher Nolan’s grounded adaptation of Homer’s epic poem has already surpassed $1.699 billion worldwide, according to Rotten Tomatoes’ ongoing tally of the highest-grossing films of all time, officially making it the highest-earning film of Nolan’s career. Featuring Matt Damon as Odysseus alongside Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, and Robert Pattinson, the film has also become the highest-grossing release for each of these actors to date.

The film’s box office success goes beyond merely surpassing ‘Jurassic World.’ ‘The Odyssey’ has already overtaken ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, a truly remarkable achievement considering its nearly three-hour runtime and non-franchise premise. It has also become Nolan’s biggest hit as a filmmaker, surpassing both ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ at the box office.

Domestically, the film has been equally impressive. It’s on track to become just the sixth film in Universal’s history to surpass $400 million domestically, and only the fourth live-action release to achieve this, joining two ‘Super Mario’ films and two ‘Jurassic’ entries. Its second weekend alone brought in $87 million, ranking among the thirteen best second weekends of all time and surpassing the second-weekend figures of both ‘Frozen II’ and ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’

There’s an ironic twist to this achievement, given Nolan’s own history with epic storytelling. The director was reportedly once connected to a different adaptation of ancient mythology over two decades ago with ‘Troy,’ before ultimately opting to direct ‘Batman Begins,’ making this box office triumph feel like a full-circle moment two decades in the making.

With ‘Jurassic World’ having held its position in box office history as the fastest film to cross $1 billion, achieving this in just thirteen days back in 2015, ‘The Odyssey’ overtaking it signifies a genuine passing of the torch for Universal’s biggest-ever theatrical release. With much of the film’s international rollout still unfolding, particularly in Japan, the final tally could increase even further before its theatrical run concludes.

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