‘The Odyssey’ Just Pulled off a Rare Box Office Feat Overseas, and It’s Only Getting Bigger as It’s Outpacing ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’

Christopher Nolan has built a career on movies that seem to defy typical box office patterns, and his latest epic is doing exactly that in one of the most competitive international markets right now. While most blockbusters see their momentum fade after opening weekend, ‘The Odyssey’ has instead found a way to keep climbing.

That kind of staying power is rare, especially when a film is going head-to-head with one of the year’s biggest superhero releases. Yet that’s precisely the dynamic playing out in South Korea, where Nolan’s mythological epic has continued to outperform expectations well into its second week of release.

‘The Odyssey’ is not only holding its number one spot over ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ in Korea, but its Friday numbers actually grew during its second week in theaters, an unusual pattern that speaks to genuinely strong word of mouth carrying the film forward.

The film first dethroned ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ during its opening weekend in Korea, pulling in 1,333,437 admissions between August 7 and 9 and claiming 45.13% of the market’s total weekend revenue, according to data from KOBIS, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council. That debut alone marked the biggest opening of Nolan’s career in the Korean market, surpassing even ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’

What’s happened since then is the more surprising part. Rather than the typical steep decline films experience heading into their second Friday, ‘The Odyssey’ actually grew its single-day gross during that stretch, a sign that audiences who saw the film in its first week are actively driving new ticket sales through recommendations rather than the movie simply riding out its initial hype.

The film has now crossed roughly $24.7 million in cumulative earnings and nearly 3.2 million admissions in Korea after just ten days of release. Industry trackers are now projecting a second five-day weekend somewhere between $13.5 million and $14.5 million, representing a remarkably shallow drop of just 0% to 6% for a film already well into its theatrical run.

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ has continued performing well in its own right, moving to second place in Korea during its own second weekend with 1,264,788 admissions and a 40.38% market share, pushing its overall Korean total past $43 million. That’s still a strong hold for the Sony blockbuster, but it wasn’t enough to keep pace with Nolan’s film once presale momentum shifted decisively toward ‘The Odyssey.’

That shift showed up clearly in presale data as well, with ‘The Odyssey’ accounting for the majority share of advance ticket sales compared to Spider-Man’s smaller slice heading into the weekend. It’s a notable outcome for a market that had initially seen ‘Brand New Day’ establish itself at the top before Nolan’s film arrived and quickly overtook it.

Korea’s box office start for ‘The Odyssey’ also holds broader significance within the film’s global rollout. The country delivered the biggest opening weekend of Nolan’s career there, outperforming other major international markets and helping push the film’s worldwide total past the $1.1 billion mark, officially making it the highest-grossing film of Nolan’s career.

That kind of sustained strength across international markets, paired with continued momentum domestically, suggests ‘The Odyssey’ still has plenty of room to grow before its theatrical run winds down. For a film built around a mythological journey home, its box office trajectory in Korea looks like it’s just getting started rather than nearing its own final chapter.

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