‘The Odyssey’ Is Sailing Toward a Box Office Milestone We Didn’t See Coming This Summer

Summer moviegoing had been a bit of a mixed bag before Christopher Nolan’s latest epic hit theaters. A string of underwhelming releases had studios nervously eyeing the calendar, hoping something would finally give audiences a reason to head back to the multiplex in force.

Then ‘The Odyssey’ arrived, and the mood shifted almost overnight. Nolan’s sprawling, star-studded retelling of Homer’s ancient poem opened with a wave of premium format sellouts and glowing word of mouth that few box office trackers had fully anticipated.

The numbers backed up the buzz immediately. ‘The Odyssey’ launched to $124.5 million domestically and $264.1 million worldwide, making it Nolan’s biggest global opening ever and pushing past even ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ for that title.

By the end of its first four days in release, the film had already climbed to $282.5 million globally, a pace that placed it among the biggest launches of the year. That momentum didn’t fade once the weekend crowds thinned out either.

Christopher Nolan’s film went on to post his best domestic Monday and Tuesday ever, pulling in $18.67 million and then a record $21.4 million as the week continued. Those kinds of weekday holds are rare for any film, let alone a nearly three hour R rated epic without a built in franchise audience.

That strength is exactly why online chatter has turned toward just how high ‘The Odyssey’ can climb before its run is finished. Fans and box office watchers have been speculating about the film crossing major milestones in the coming weeks, with some predicting it could edge close to $700 million globally right as ‘Spider-Man Brand New Day’ opens.

Industry trackers see plenty of runway left as well. Second weekend projections have the film pulling in anywhere from the low $60 million range up to a possible $85 million domestically, an unusually soft drop for a film this long and this adult-skewing.

Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian summed up why the film has connected so strongly with audiences hungry for a true theatrical event, noting the film’s arrival highlighted the undeniable allure of the big screen moviegoing experience, as he told Variety.

Part of what makes the conversation around milestones so lively is the film’s price tag. With a reported $250 million production budget and another $125 million spent on marketing, ‘The Odyssey’ reportedly needs somewhere in the $500 to $625 million range worldwide just to break even.

Given its trajectory so far, clearing that number looks increasingly likely, and attention is already shifting toward whether the film can push into billion-dollar territory the way past Nolan epics like ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ eventually did.

Timing may work in the film’s favor too. With no new wide releases challenging it the following weekend and ‘Spider-Man Brand New Day’ not opening until July 31, ‘The Odyssey’ has had an unusually clear runway to build momentum before facing its first real competition.

For a film built around a nearly three thousand year old story, ‘The Odyssey’ has managed to feel like one of the defining theatrical events of the summer. What do you think ‘The Odyssey’ final global total will land at, share your predictions in the comments.