{"id":698782,"date":"2026-07-18T18:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/698782\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T18:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:20:09","slug":"box-office-the-odyssey-makes-51-million-on-opening-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/698782\/","title":{"rendered":"Box Office: ‘The Odyssey’ Makes $51 Million on Opening Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\u201cThe Odyssey<\/a>\u201d didn\u2019t need a Trojan Horse to break into the top of Friday\u2019s box office charts.<\/p>\n

\n\tChristopher Nolan<\/a>\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d earned $51 million on Friday from 3,919 North American screens. Early estimates had the saga grossing $90 million to $100 million by Sunday, but after a stellar opening day, forecasts have the film climbing as high as $120 million. \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d will soon become the third film in 2026 to open above $100 million after \u201cToy Story 5\u201d ($159 million) and \u201cThe Super Mario Galaxy Movie\u201d ($131 million). \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d carries a hefty $250 million price tag.<\/p>\n

\n\tAn $120 million opening for \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d would rank as Nolan\u2019s best since \u201cThe Dark Knight Rises,\u201d which debuted to a staggering $160 million in 2012. Weekend one projections for \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d blow past Nolan\u2019s 2023 best picture winner, \u201cOppenheimer,\u201d which made $82 million over its opening weekend and powered to $975 million by the end of its run. Also, with $51 million on Friday, \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d has already outgrossed the entire opening weekend of Nolan\u2019s 2014 opus \u201cInterstellar\u201d ($47.5 million).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe Odyssey,\u201d based on Homer\u2019s ancient Greek epic, chronicles the tale of Odysseus, who must make the arduous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Matt Damon<\/a> stars as Odysseus, leading an all-star cast of Tom Holland<\/a>, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson<\/a>, Lupita Nyong\u2019o, Zendaya<\/a>, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMoana\u201d landed at No. 2 on Friday with just $5.5 million as it heads into its second weekend in North American theaters. Rival estimates have the live-action remake earning $19 million by Sunday, which would represent a 56% drop for its soft $43 million domestic opening.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety reported that, factoring in its $250 million production budget, \u201cMoana\u201d could lose around $100 million for Disney<\/a> if tides don\u2019t turn its way. While rare, it has happened before. In 2024, Disney\u2019s live-action \u201cLion King\u201d spinoff, \u201cMufasa,\u201d opened to just $34 million but made it to $722 million worldwide by the end of its run. However, that movie debuted at Christmas time, meaning it had free rein over cineplexes during the slow-release months of January and February. \u201cMoana\u201d has no such luxury, considering it\u2019s got \u201cToy Story 5\u201d and \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d to catch up to.<\/p>\n

\n\tSpeaking of \u201cMinions & Monsters,\u201d that film added $4.3 million domestically on Friday for a third-place finish. It\u2019s expected to collect $14 million through Sunday. Through three weekends of release, the animated adventure, which takes the yellow henchmen through the golden age of Hollywood, should reach a domestic gross of $136 million. \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d is shaping up to be one of the lowest-earners in the franchise, but it was made for only $85 million, meaning Universal doesn\u2019t need much more to push \u201cMinions & Monsters\u201d into the green. <\/p>\n

\n\tRounding out the Friday top five were \u201cToy Story 5\u201d and \u201cEvil Dead Burn.\u201d \u201cToy Story 5\u201d took fourth place with $4.2 million on Friday. By Sunday, it should make about $13.8 million, pushing its North American total to around $429 million through five weekends of release. Finally, \u201cEvil Dead Burn\u201d slotted at No. 5 after earning an estimated $1.4 million domestically. By the end of the weekend, it should gross about $4.7 million, putting its domestic total at around $23 million through Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Odyssey\u201d didn\u2019t need a Trojan Horse to break into the top of Friday\u2019s box office charts. Christopher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[2826,96,2828,2839,35588,22546,5454,56,54,55,24489],"class_list":["post-698782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-christopher-nolan","tag-entertainment","tag-matt-damon","tag-movies","tag-robert-pattinson","tag-the-odyssey","tag-tom-holland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-zendaya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}