‘The Odyssey’ Continues to Earn Months After Becoming Christopher Nolan’s Biggest Hit

Laura Bais
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Most blockbusters shine brightly for a few weekends before fading into streaming queues, but Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ has defied that trend. The R-rated epic continues to climb the global box office charts, with recent figures indicating it is still adding to an already impressive total.

Universal’s adaptation of Homer’s poem debuted on July 17, raking in $124.5 million domestically from 3,919 theaters and achieving a worldwide total of $264.1 million. It has been one of the year’s best-reviewed films, boasting an “A” CinemaScore and a 95% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Following its opening, the film has consistently outperformed typical box office expectations.

Currently, ‘The Odyssey’ is estimated to have grossed around $1.789 billion globally, with sources like The Numbers reporting it slightly lower at about $1.784 billion. Domestically, it has earned approximately $624.9 million and around $1.16 billion internationally. With a production budget of $250 million, this translates to a return of more than seven times its cost, and box office analysts predict it could finish close to $1.8 billion.

The film’s impressive staying power was evident from the start, as its second weekend brought in $90 million, marking only a 27% drop from its debut. This performance set a record for the best second-weekend hold among films that opened with over $100 million, according to Box Office Watch.

‘The Odyssey’ crossed the $1 billion mark on August 7, becoming the 65th film to achieve this milestone. Shortly thereafter, it surpassed ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ to become Nolan’s highest-grossing film ever and claimed the title of IMAX’s biggest release of all time with $289 million, surpassing ‘Avatar.’ The film’s success was bolstered by its preferred IMAX 70mm format, which was shown in just 41 locations worldwide.

As records continued to pile up, the film’s worldwide total of $1.452 billion during its sixth weekend surpassed ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. Universal later confirmed that it had also overtaken 2015’s ‘Jurassic World’ to become the studio’s biggest film ever.

What’s particularly remarkable is how well it is performing now. According to MovieWeb, the film is still outpacing newer and wider releases, despite being screened in only 560 theaters. It has out-earned Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ by approximately 47 times on a global scale.

Box Office Watch ranks ‘The Odyssey’ as #11 on the all-time list of biggest worldwide runs and #5 for the longest runs of $1 million-plus days, with a total of 62 such days. It also recorded the sixth-biggest eighth weekend in history, bringing in $13.1 million. Wikipedia currently lists it as the eleventh-highest-grossing film of all time.

Screenshot 2026 07 25 at 11 02 38 The Odyssey 2026 Rotten Tomatoes

The next milestone fans are eyeing is the total for ‘Zootopia 2,’ which stands at $1.870 billion, just out of reach for ‘The Odyssey’ as it sits roughly $80 million away. Even with consistent weekends, that gap is significant for a film that is deep into its theatrical run.

Nonetheless, being part of this conversation is impressive for an original, nearly three-hour adaptation of a 2,700-year-old poem. The film faced cultural discussions before its release and has managed to outlast all of that. While analysts anticipated a strong opening, few expected its remarkable longevity.

Nolan wrote and directed the film, featuring Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, and Robert Pattinson. Jon Bernthal plays Menelaus and also appears as the Punisher in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ the only 2026 release currently ahead of it. Together, these two films have contributed to one of the biggest box office years on record.

The movie also set a record as the fastest to reach 1 million watches on Letterboxd, achieving this in just six days, which is half the time of the previous record-holder, ‘Barbie.’ This early enthusiasm from film enthusiasts fueled positive word of mouth, leading to continued sales of IMAX tickets. For a filmmaker whose previous works include ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Inception,’ and ‘Interstellar,’ this marks a new pinnacle.

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