‘The Odyssey’ Just Did Something at the Box Office That Nobody Expected From a Seven-Week-Old Release

Late summer at the box office is usually a story of decline, with even the biggest blockbusters gradually losing steam as audiences move on to whatever opens next. That’s what made this past weekend’s numbers for two of 2026’s biggest hits so unusual, since neither ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘ nor Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey‘ has followed that typical pattern at all.

Both films have spent weeks trading dominance at the top of the domestic charts, each posting holds that box office analysts keep describing as remarkable for movies this far into their theatrical runs. ‘Brand New Day’ shattered records on its way out of the gate, while ‘The Odyssey’ has quietly built one of the steadiest, most durable runs of Christopher Nolan’s career.

That steady momentum produced a genuinely surprising result once the two films’ comparable weekends were lined up against each other. ‘The Odyssey’ earned more on its fifth weekend globally than ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ did, according to MovieHub. Nolan’s mythological epic pulled in $121 million worldwide during its own fifth weekend, compared to $66 million for Marvel’s web-slinging sequel over its equivalent stretch.

That gap is especially notable given just how dominant ‘Brand New Day’ has been for most of its own run. The film earned $22.2 million domestically this past weekend, dropping just 44 percent from the previous frame, and added roughly $44 million internationally to bring its combined weekend haul to around $66 million, all while pushing its domestic total to $891 million.

‘The Odyssey,’ meanwhile, has continued showing remarkably little sign of slowing down despite being several weeks further into its own theatrical run. The film has already become Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing movie ever, having previously crossed the billion-dollar mark globally and surpassed both ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ to claim that distinction across his entire career.

Both films appear to be benefiting from something more durable than a strong opening weekend alone. ‘Brand New Day’ currently holds a 98 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest of any live-action Spider-Man film to date, a signal of the kind of word-of-mouth that keeps ticket sales elevated well past the debut.

‘The Odyssey’ has leaned on a similar dynamic internationally, continuing to expand into new markets that have kept fueling its box office momentum long after its initial release. That international rollout helps explain why its fifth-weekend numbers were able to outpace a film that opened to the single biggest domestic weekend in box office history.

Domestically, ‘Brand New Day’ is still chasing history of its own, sitting roughly $45 million behind ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ for the all-time unadjusted domestic box office record. Once it clears that mark, the film will be within striking distance of becoming the first movie ever to cross $1 billion at the North American box office alone.

For two films that debuted just weeks apart and have spent the summer trading the top spot, watching ‘The Odyssey’ out-earn ‘Brand New Day’ on a like-for-like weekend basis is a reminder that box office dominance doesn’t always follow the pattern people expect.

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