‘The Odyssey’ Set to Surpass ‘Furious 7’ as Universal’s Second-Biggest Movie

Christopher Nolan hadn’t entered the billion-dollar club since 2012’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ marking a fourteen-year gap that made his return to this elite territory feel like significant news when it finally occurred this summer. For a director known for adult-oriented, formally ambitious blockbusters, achieving that milestone again with a three-hour adaptation of a nearly 3,000-year-old poem was never a sure thing.

‘The Odyssey,’ Nolan’s sword-and-sandal epic featuring Matt Damon as the Greek king Odysseus alongside Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron, has defied expectations throughout its theatrical run. Filmed entirely with IMAX film cameras—a first for a feature film—the movie has become a true phenomenon, driven by strong audience demand for premium large-format screenings.

Now, that momentum is set to reach a significant milestone. ‘The Odyssey’ is projected to surpass the $1.5 billion mark at the global box office this coming weekend, a total that would push it past ‘Furious 7’s’ $1.51 billion and make it Universal’s second-biggest movie ever, trailing only ‘Jurassic World.’

The film’s success has already rewritten Nolan’s box office history multiple times. ‘The Odyssey’ has overtaken ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ to become Nolan’s highest-grossing release to date, and it has also claimed the title of the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, surpassing ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’ With his collective works, Nolan’s filmography has now crossed $7 billion at the global box office.

Universal has capitalized on the film’s international appeal as a key factor in its success. Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, the studio’s president of international distribution, stated in comments reported by Variety that Nolan’s global fanbase made him particularly suited to adapt Homer’s ancient poem, describing the film as a global epic that has resonated with audiences due to its expansive scope and uncompromising vision.

Much of the film’s staying power can be attributed to its performance in IMAX, where it has already become the highest-grossing release in that format, even surpassing ‘Avatar.’ This success has been further enhanced by the film’s ongoing international rollout, with releases in South Korea, China, and Japan continuing to add fresh box office momentum even weeks after its initial debut.

‘The Odyssey’ is one of five films to surpass the billion-dollar mark in 2026, joining ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ ‘Toy Story 5,’ ‘Michael,’ and ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ on that list. It currently ranks as the second-highest-grossing film of the year, just behind ‘Brand New Day,’ although its steady climb toward $1.5 billion keeps that gap from widening significantly.

For Universal, the film’s success contributes to what has already been a record-breaking year, with the studio becoming the first to surpass $4 billion globally in 2026. Achieving two films, ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘Brand New Day,’ both exceeding the billion-dollar mark in the same year is a rare accomplishment that highlights the strength of this theatrical period for the industry overall.

With more international markets still to come and IMAX screens reportedly selling out in major cities through October, ‘The Odyssey’ shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

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