Christopher Nolan’s 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’s biggest global opening ever, as well as deliver the third-largest opening of the year.
Locally, the action-packed adaptation of Homer’s epic topped the Australian box office, grossing more than $13.5 million 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.
However, Nolan fans should enjoy this success while they can. Speaking to US show Today shortly after the film’s 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.
“I definitely hit the limits of my own stamina and everybody’s stamina,” he said. “I mean, it’s The Odyssey – of course it should be difficult. We’re not doing the job right making a film of The Odyssey if it doesn’t seem difficult.”
Adapted from Homer’s 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.
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 in ticket sales, making it Nolan’s best debut since 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, which grossed just over $356.8 million. That’s also well ahead of the $249.1 million global opening for Oppenheimer, Nolan’s previous film and the best picture Academy Award winner in 2024.
These figures put the sword-and-sandal epic well ahead of early box office trackings, which were already strong. According to Deadline, the film was projected to open to about $286.6 million globally – 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.
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’t based on an existing franchise (as long as we’re not considering Homer’s ancient text as traditional “IP”). With barely any competition until July 31, when Spider-Man: Brand New Day lands in cinemas, The Odyssey’s box office is expected to become even mightier.
Its records didn’t 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.
Locally, it became Universal’s third-biggest opening weekend Down Under in history, behind 2015’s Jurassic World ($16 million) and Fast & Furious 7 ($14.6 million). The Odyssey beat runner-up Moana 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.”
“The way Australian audiences have embraced Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has been
extraordinary,” said Mike Baard, managing director of Universal Pictures International Australasia, in a press release. “Even 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.”
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’s 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.
Not only has the film smashed the box office, it has also won the hearts of critics and fans alike. The Odyssey received an “A” grade on CinemaScore exit polls, and currently sits at 95 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have applauded Nolan for taking an ancient text and making it feel new. Cinemagoers, meanwhile, have left screenings in awe, stunned by the majesty of its cinematography and the relentlessness of its Ludwig Göransson score.
“You really do just sit there and think, ‘what have I just seen?’,” says long-time Nolan fan Eddie Ivermee, who saw one of the first Australian screenings at IMAX Melbourne on Thursday. “As a big-screen spectacle, you know straight away, virtually from the first scene, that you’re in for a treat.”
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Nell Geraets is a Culture reporter at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.
