Audiences worldwide flocked to see Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, making it the weekend's biggest movie domestically and internationally.
Despite its three-hour length, R-rating, and conservative criticism of its diverse casting, audiences bought tickets well in advance of this weekend, sometimes driving to IMAX theaters in other states to see the first filmed-entirely-in-IMAX movie as Nolan wanted it to be seen.
Initial estimates say the movie sold $124.5 million at the domestic box office in its debut weekend, including $51.1 million at Friday's opening, selling an average of $31,768 a location, according to Rentrak.
"This is one of the most monumental weekends in moviegoing history, ...capturing the imagination of the entire world with an epic film that has become a must-see cinematic event," Rentrak's head of marketplace trends Paul Dergarabedian said.
The film, distributed by Comcast's Universal Pictures, sold another $139.6 million of tickets across more than 12,800 locations in 73 international markets -- with South Korea, China, and Japan still to come -- making it a $264 million global blockbuster.
The Odyssey notched the year's third-biggest domestic opening, behind Walt Disney's Toy Story 5, which opened June 19 and sold $159.7 million domestically in its first weekend, and Universal's The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which opened April 1 and sold $131.7 million in its first weekend, according to Rentrak.
"Nolan's latest epic has arrived at the perfect time, reminding everyone of the importance, the essential nature, and the undeniable allure of the big screen moviegoing experience as presented by an old-school, analog master of the art of cinema," Dergarabedian added.
The movie drew 7.5 million people in its opening weekend, surpassing Nolan's 2023 movie, Oppenheimer, which drew 5.9 million and sold $82.5 million at its debut, according to EntTelligence.
The Odyssey vastly outsold the other titles at the cinema this weekend. In second place, Disney's live-action Moana, which opened in 4,200 locations a week earlier, sold an estimated $19 million in its second weekend. That brings its domestic total to $82.1 million, according to Rentrak.
Universal's animated Minions & Monsters and Disney's Toy Story 5 tied for third place, each selling an estimated $14.8 million. Minions & Monsters, which opened July 1, has sold $137.6 million in domestic box office. Toy Story 5, which opened June 19, has raked in $430.9 million in domestic ticket sales.
This is a developing story. Please check back for further updates.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 19, 2026 13:21 ET (17:21 GMT)
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