‘The Odyssey’ Surpasses ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ at Box Office in Korea

Christopher Nolan has established a reputation for creating films that break conventional box office trends, and his latest masterpiece is doing just that in one of the most competitive international markets. While many blockbusters typically see their momentum wane after the opening weekend, ‘The Odyssey’ has managed to keep gaining traction.

This kind of endurance is quite rare, especially when a film is competing against one of the year’s biggest superhero hits. However, that’s exactly what’s happening in South Korea, where Nolan’s mythological epic has continued to exceed expectations well into its second week of release.

‘The Odyssey’ is not only maintaining its number one position over ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ in Korea, but its Friday earnings actually increased during its second week in theaters. This unusual trend indicates strong word-of-mouth is driving audiences to see the film.

The film first dethroned ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ during its opening weekend in Korea, bringing in 1,333,437 admissions between August 7 and 9 and capturing 45.13% of the market’s total weekend revenue, according to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. This debut marked the biggest opening of Nolan’s career in the Korean market, surpassing even ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’

What has transpired since then is even more surprising. Instead of experiencing the typical steep decline that films often face heading into their second Friday, ‘The Odyssey’ actually increased its single-day gross during that period. This suggests that audiences who watched the film in its first week are actively promoting it to others, rather than it merely riding the initial wave of excitement.

The film has now amassed approximately $24.7 million in cumulative earnings and nearly 3.2 million admissions in Korea after just ten days of release. Industry analysts are now forecasting a second five-day weekend total between $13.5 million and $14.5 million, indicating a remarkably shallow drop of just 0% to 6% for a film already deep into its theatrical run.

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ has also performed well, moving to second place in Korea during its own second weekend with 1,264,788 admissions and a 40.38% market share, pushing its overall Korean total past $43 million. While this remains a strong performance for the Sony blockbuster, it wasn’t sufficient to keep pace with Nolan’s film once presale momentum shifted decisively toward ‘The Odyssey.’

This shift was evident in presale data, with ‘The Odyssey’ capturing the majority share of advance ticket sales compared to Spider-Man’s smaller portion heading into the weekend. This outcome is significant for a market that initially saw ‘Brand New Day’ establish itself at the top before Nolan’s film quickly overtook it.

Korea’s box office performance for ‘The Odyssey’ also holds broader implications for the film’s global rollout. The country delivered the biggest opening weekend of Nolan’s career there, outperforming other major international markets and helping push the film’s worldwide total past the $1.1 billion mark, officially making it the highest-grossing film of Nolan’s career.

This sustained strength across international markets, combined with ongoing momentum domestically, suggests that ‘The Odyssey’ still has ample room for growth before its theatrical run concludes. For a film centered around a mythological journey home, its box office trajectory in Korea appears to be just beginning rather than approaching its final chapter.

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