{"id":812998,"date":"2026-07-20T21:14:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:14:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812998\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T21:14:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:14:17","slug":"the-odyssey-global-box-office-revenue-christopher-nolans-epic-breaks-records-director-explains-why-he-needs-a-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/812998\/","title":{"rendered":"The Odyssey global box office revenue: Christopher Nolan\u2019s epic breaks records, director explains why he needs a break"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey has been lauded as an epic, and it now has the box office to match. The film has breezed past early projections to become the renowned director\u2019s biggest global opening ever, as well as deliver the third-largest opening of the year.<\/p>\n

Locally, the action-packed adaptation of Homer\u2019s epic topped the Australian box office, grossing more than $13.5 million<\/a> from Thursday to Sunday, per box office tracking platform Numero. This marks the biggest opening weekend at the Australian box office so far this year.<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Damon as Odysseus and Zendaya as Athena in The Odyssey.<\/p>\n

However, Nolan fans should enjoy this success while they can. Speaking to US show Today<\/a> shortly after the film\u2019s release, Nolan said he reached his limit creating The Odyssey, and that it would be at least three years until he embarks on another movie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI definitely hit the limits of my own stamina and everybody\u2019s stamina,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s The Odyssey \u2013 of course it should be difficult. We\u2019re not doing the job right making a film of The Odyssey if it doesn\u2019t seem difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Maree<\/a><\/p>\n

Adapted from Homer\u2019s 3000-year-old poem, The Odyssey follows Odysseus (Matt Damon) the king of Ithaca, as he embarks on an arduous journey home after claiming victory in the Trojan War. Damon leads an all-star ensemble, including Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron.<\/p>\n

Despite its three-hour running time and R-rating overseas (M in Australia), the film managed to rake in more than $378.5 million worldwide<\/a> in ticket sales, making it Nolan\u2019s best debut since 2012\u2019s The Dark Knight Rises, which grossed just over $356.8 million. That\u2019s also well ahead of the $249.1 million global opening for Oppenheimer, Nolan\u2019s previous film and the best picture Academy Award winner in 2024.<\/p>\n

These figures put the sword-and-sandal epic well ahead of early box office trackings, which were already strong. According to Deadline<\/a>, the film was projected to open to about $286.6 million globally \u2013 about 27 per cent less than its actual earnings. It also means the film has already recouped much of its production budget, which was about $357.9 million. Notably, it cost another $178.9 million to market and promote.<\/p>\n

Such earnings make it the third-largest opening of the year, pipped only by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($533.8 million) and Toy Story 5 ($447.1 million). This is impressive not only because of its length and age restrictions, but also because The Odyssey isn\u2019t based on an existing franchise (as long as we\u2019re not considering Homer\u2019s ancient text as traditional \u201cIP\u201d). With barely any competition until July 31, when Spider-Man: Brand New Day lands in cinemas, The Odyssey\u2019s box office is expected to become even mightier.<\/p>\n

Its records didn\u2019t stop there. The film also marks the best-ever opening for its leading man, Matt Damon, beating his other hit films, such as The Martian. Further, The Odyssey enjoyed the best-ever opening for an R-rated Universal film, and the fourth best R-rated opening overall following Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool, and Deadpool 2.<\/p>\n

\"ChristopherChristopher Nolan attends the film\u2019s premiere in Mumbai.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Locally, it became Universal\u2019s third-biggest opening weekend Down Under in history, behind 2015\u2019s Jurassic World ($16 million) and Fast & Furious 7 ($14.6 million). The Odyssey beat runner-up Moana <\/a>by a staggering $10.5 million at the Australian box office. The Disney live-action film, which landed in cinemas on July 8, grossed $2.9 million over the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way Australian audiences have embraced Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey has been
extraordinary,\u201d said Mike Baard, managing director of Universal Pictures International Australasia, in a press release. \u201cEven before the film opened, the level of demand was unlike anything we had seen for an original film in some time, with cinemas adding midnight and even 6am sessions across
the opening weekend to give moviegoers more opportunities to experience it on the big screen.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Odyssey was the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras, and the premium large format has proved incredibly popular with audiences. IMAX accounted for 23 per cent of global ticket sales ($74.1 million). In Australia, traditional cinema screens accounted for 82 per cent of the film\u2019s box office, while 18 per cent came from IMAX, IMAX 70mm, 70mm and 4DX presentations. A whopping 16,888 sessions have been programmed across Aussie cinemas for its first week of release.<\/p>\n

Not only has the film smashed the box office, it has also won the hearts of critics and fans alike. The Odyssey received an \u201cA\u201d grade on CinemaScore exit polls, and currently sits at 95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a>. Critics have applauded Nolan for taking an ancient text and making it feel new<\/a>. Cinemagoers, meanwhile, have left screenings in awe, stunned by the majesty of its cinematography and the relentlessness of its Ludwig G\u00f6ransson score.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really do just sit there and think, \u2018what have I just seen?\u2019,\u201d says long-time Nolan fan Eddie Ivermee, who saw one of the first Australian screenings at IMAX Melbourne on Thursday. \u201cAs a big-screen spectacle, you know straight away, virtually from the first scene, that you\u2019re in for a treat.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"NellNell Geraets<\/a> is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":812999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[64,63,134,344],"class_list":["post-812998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/812999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}