Christopher Nolan’s Epic ‘The Odyssey’ Opens to $125 Million

*Thomas Buckley* *for Bloomberg News*

*The Odyssey*, the new movie from blockbuster auteur director Christopher Nolan, was the No. 1 film in the US and Canada over the weekend with $124.5 million in ticket sales.

Released by Comcast Corp.’s Universal Pictures, *The Odyssey* is based on Homer’s epic poem and boasts an an all-star cast including Matt Damon in the lead role of Odysseus, as well as Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Zendaya. Industry tracker Boxoffice Pro had forecast sales of at least $95 million.

The debut followed a multimillion-dollar campaign that included red carpet premieres in London, Paris, New York and Mumbai — the first-ever Nolan film premiere in India. The film received laudatory reviews and a critics’ approval rating of 96% on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, which noted the film’s “majestic sweep” and “sterling work by its colossal ensemble.”

Globally, the film took in $264.1 million in its opening weekend.

*The Odyssey* is Nolan’s first film since *Oppenheimer* in 2023, which went on to gross close to $1 billion at the global box office and took home the Academy Award for Best Picture. It’s one of the most important theatrical titles on Universal’s slate of theatrical films this year, which has also included Illumination’s *Minions & Monsters*, *The Super Mario Galaxy Movie*, the international rights to Lionsgate Studios Corp.’s *Michael* and Steven Spielberg’s *Disclosure Day*.

Nolan’s picture is also the first movie to be filmed entirely with Imax Corp. cameras. A large portion of the weekend’s box office performance was generated from screenings in Imax’s giant auditoriums, many of which were sold out months in advance.

Wow! Huge opening!