Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” pulled in $90 million domestically in its second weekend, per Monday’s finalized actuals, which came in above Sunday’s $87 million estimate and marked just a 27% drop from its opening. That decline stands as the smallest second-weekend fall ever for a $100M-plus opener domestically, edging out Wicked: Part One and Top Gun: Maverick. The film has climbed to $652 million worldwide without yet opening in China or Japan, putting a $500 million domestic run within reach.

Ten days after Christopher Nolan sent Matt Damon’s Odysseus back to Ithaca, Universal’s numbers are doing something almost as strange as the myth itself. Monday’s finalized actuals pushed the film’s second weekend to $90 million, above Sunday’s own estimate, on a drop of just 27 percent from its $123.5 million opening. That kind of hold now tops what Wicked: Part One and Top Gun: Maverick managed domestically, and among July releases it outpaces even The Dark Knight’s famous second act. With $652 million banked worldwide before China or Japan have even opened their doors, Hollywood is now watching how high the film’s total can climb.

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey keeps rewriting the summer box office. Monday’s finalized actuals put its second weekend at $90 million domestically, above Sunday’s initial $87 million estimate. That represents a decline of just 27% from its opening frame of July 17-19, and the record books needed an immediate update.

The smallest drop ever for a $100 million opener

When Sunday estimates suggested a 30% dip, the hold already ranked third-best in history domestically for a film opening above $100 million, behind Wicked: Part One (-27.9%) and Top Gun: Maverick (-28.9%). The confirmed 27% decline now beats both, making it the gentlest second-weekend slide ever recorded domestically in that club. Among July releases specifically, the film also topped the sophomore holds of The Dark Knight and The Lion King (2019), and its $21 million Tuesday edged out the 2008 Batman film’s $20.86 million single-day haul. Only Deadpool & Wolverine, with a $96-97 million second frame, posted a bigger domestic sophomore weekend for an R-rated movie.

$652 million worldwide, and major markets still waiting

After 10 days in theaters, the epic has grossed roughly $289 million domestically and $652 million globally, including $362 million from international territories. That total was reached before the film has even opened in China, Japan or Korea. IMAX has been a major driver: $140 million of the worldwide haul came from the format, with $38 million in the second weekend alone, the biggest sophomore frame in IMAX history. “Chris has crafted the type of masterwork that draws our biggest fans back to experience it two or three times,” IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond said.

Is $500 million domestic within reach?

Analysts now consider a $500 million domestic finish possible, a milestone Nolan has never hit. Rotten Tomatoes’ box office team called it plausible given the film’s trajectory. Analyst David A. Gross agrees on the fundamentals: “The Odyssey is showing that kind of holding power,” he said.

A $250 million bet on Homer

Universal spent $250 million on this adaptation of Homer’s poem, which runs nearly three hours and carries an R rating. Matt Damon leads as Odysseus, king of Ithaca, surrounded by Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo. The strong hold gives the studio a rare cushion: the film has already banked more in two weekends than most blockbusters manage in a full run.