New York: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey launched with an estimated USD 124.5 million in domestic ticket sales and another USD 139.6 million from overseas, notching an even better debut than Oppenheimer and marking the filmmaker’s best opening since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Nolan flexed his singular box-office might with a global debut unlike any other. Few filmmakers alive could pull off a starry, big-budget adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. But in a Hollywood where intellectual property rights rule most hits, Nolan turned one of the world’s oldest works of literature into an unlikely summer blockbuster.
The Universal production was no small gamble on Nolan, coming off the 2023 best picture-winning Oppenheimer. With a production budget of USD 250 million, it’s among the most expensive R-rated movies ever made. Universal is spending some USD 125 million to market it.
But no behind-the-camera name turns out audiences more than Nolan’s. So great was the hype on The Odyssey that IMAX put tickets on sale for some 70 mm showtimes a full year in advance. To satisfy the extraordinary demand for Nolan’s preferred format, IMAX 70 mm, some theatres added midnight and 3 am screenings – and sold them out.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to see the palpable excitement in theatres this weekend,” said Jim Orr, head of domestic distribution for Universal. “Nolan has crafted an epic adventure. It’s on a scale that audiences have responded to extraordinarily well.”
IMAX DRIVES TICKET SALES
Billed as Nolan’s first feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras, the format drove a huge slice of ticket sales. That included USD 29.6 million domestically on IMAX and USD 51.8 million globally, leading to the company’s best weekend ever. IMAX is dedicating its screens entirely to The Odyssey for three weeks.
Though only 41 IMAX screens can screen The Odyssey in 70 mm, they accounted for USD 6.3 million in ticket sales.
“The IMAX of it all helped turn it from not only a blockbuster, but a global cultural event,” said Rich Gelfond, chief executive of IMAX. “We have tickets on sale for week five in some theatres and some of them have already sold out.”
Since the pandemic, Nolan has been at the forefront of reviving cinemas. His Tenet was one of the first big releases to wade back into theatres in 2020. Three years later, Oppenheimer and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” combined to create arguably the movies’ signature moment of the decade. Oppenheimer ultimately grossed USD 975 million worldwide.
The Odyssey arrived in theatres during Hollywood’s best summer since 2019. Ticket sales are running 10.4 per cent ahead of last year, according to Rentrak. The industry is expecting the first USD 10 billion year at the domestic box office since the pandemic.
UNIVERSAL SEES THE ODYSSEY’ PLAYING INTO THE FALL
The only question for The Odyssey will be how front-loaded it is, given that many moviegoers have had this weekend circled for months. The film faced no new-release competition over the weekend, and it won’t next weekend, either.
Gelfond said that presales for the movie’s second weekend would rank among their 10 best presales, proof that many moviegoers are waiting to see the film in their preferred format. IMAX 70mm screenings, he said, are largely sold out for the next month, except for some front row seats.
“Christopher Nolan and Tom Cruise may be the two most high-profile ambassadors for the big-screen experience,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends for Rentrak. “Nolan is a director who’s a star as much as any movie star in front of the camera.”
The audience for The Odyssey was notably male, accounting for 59 per cent of tickets sold. But Orr said moviegoers were otherwise “ridiculously broad”, playing across demographics and geography.
“It’s delivering for a 17-year-old dude and it’s delivering for a female that’s 55 and up,” said Orr. “It points to what I’m convinced will be a very long, very successful run throughout not only the rest of the summer but into the fall, too.”
The next movie to pose any competition, ironically, also stars Tom Holland and Zendaya: Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day July 31.
CASTING CONTROVERSY HAS NO APPARENT EFFECT
The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus and features Holland as his son, Telemachus; Anne Hathaway as Penelope; Zendaya as Athena; Robert Pattinson as the suitor Antinous and Charlize Theron as the sea nymph Calypso.
Nolan’s casting of The Odyssey, including Lupita Nyong’o as Helen and Elliot Page as a soldier, was controversial to some conservative commentators. Elon Musk called Nolan a “coward” over Nyong’o’s casting.
But that criticism had little to no effect on The Odyssey becoming one of the big-screen cultural events of the year. Reviews (95 per cent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) are among the best of Nolan’s career. Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore.
PG-rated films followed in the wake of The Odyssey. The Walt Disney Co.’s Moana landed in a distant second place with USD 19 million in its third weekend. Following its disappointing USD 43 million launch, the live-action remake slid 56 per cent on its second weekend. In two weeks it collected USD 178 million worldwide, a poor result for a film that cost USD 250 million to make.
Moana was trailed by Universal’s Minions & Monsters and Disney’s Toy Story 5, both of which grossed about USD 15 million.
