‘The Odyssey’ Just Posted One of the Best Wednesdays of the Year, and the Numbers Keep Climbing

Summer box office runs rarely stay hot for very long, especially once the opening weekend excitement wears off and audiences move on to whatever comes next. Most films see steep drops by the time midweek rolls around, making those early weekday numbers a real test of genuine staying power.

That test has become one of the more fascinating storylines surrounding Christopher Nolan’s latest epic since it hit theaters. Rather than fading after its record-breaking debut, the film has continued posting numbers that box office trackers describe as unusually strong for a movie this far removed from opening night.

That strength showed up again as ‘The Odyssey’ pulled in an outsized $18.05 million on Wednesday, down just 16% from its $21.4 million Tuesday gross. According to Deadline, that total marked the second best Wednesday ever for Christopher Nolan at the domestic box office, trailing only ‘The Dark Knight,’ which grossed $18.3 million on the same date back in 2008.

That kind of minimal weekday drop-off is rare for any film, let alone a nearly three-hour, R-rated epic without a built-in franchise audience. The film has now pushed its six-day domestic running total to $181.6 million, putting it on a clear path toward even bigger milestones in the days ahead.

‘The Odyssey’ has consistently outpaced Nolan’s previous film throughout this stretch of its run. By comparison, 2023’s ‘Oppenheimer’ posted a Wednesday gross of just $10.6 million and had reached a six day cume of $117.8 million at the same point in its release, a gap that highlights just how much stronger this rollout has performed.

Much of that momentum traces back to how well the film has held onto its premium format screens. ‘The Odyssey’ has kept the vast majority of its IMAX and premium large format screens intact heading into its second weekend, formats that represented over half of its opening weekend haul.

Looking ahead, trackers project the film’s second weekend could land anywhere between $61 million and $74 million domestically. That range would allow ‘The Odyssey’ to potentially outperform the second weekend totals of both ‘The Dark Knight’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ which posted $75.1 million and $62.1 million respectively during their own second frames.

With the film now closing in fast on the $200 million mark domestically, conversation among box office watchers has shifted toward just how high the final total might climb. Many are already predicting a comfortable path past $400 million domestic, with some now wondering aloud whether $500 million is within reach.

Nolan’s career-high domestic earner remains ‘The Dark Knight’ at $534.9 million, a number that increasingly looks like a legitimate target rather than a distant benchmark for this new release. Given the pace ‘The Odyssey’ has maintained through its first week, that comparison no longer feels far-fetched.

For a film built around one of literature’s oldest stories, ‘The Odyssey’ continues proving that audiences are more than willing to show up for genuine theatrical spectacle. With a full second weekend still ahead and strong reviews continuing to fuel word of mouth, this journey home shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

What do you think ‘The Odyssey’ final domestic total will land at, share your predictions in the comments.