“The Odyssey” is off to an epic start at the box office.
Universal’s action-adventure generated $264.1 million globally over the weekend, including $139.6 million internationally and $124.5 million domestically. It’s a towering debut for a movie that’s R-rated, nearly three hours in length and isn’t part of a major franchise. Of course, “The Odyssey” isn’t original — it’s adapted from Homer’s roughly 3,000-year-old epic poem — but the film’s initial success is a testament to Nolan’s outsized popularity as a filmmaker. He’s long been a box office draw, having directed blockbusters like “The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception,” “Dunkirk” and “Interstellar.” But Nolan reached new levels of acclaim after 2023’s “Oppenheimer” became a box office behemoth and won the Oscar for best picture.
“The Odyssey” marks the biggest worldwide opening of Nolan’s career, ahead of 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises” with $249 million and 2009’s “The Dark Knight” with $198 million. (This benchmark comes with a caveat because ticket sales weren’t adjusted for inflation.) It’s also the third-biggest opening of the year behind behind “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($372.5 million) and “Toy Story 5” ($312 million).
Nolan wrote and directed “The Odyssey,” which stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, who endures a treacherous journey to get home after the Trojan war. Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo round out the starry ensemble. With stellar reviews and great word-of-mouth, “The Odyssey” is primed for a long, long run in theaters.
