Posted on 09/01/2026 9:54:49 PM PDT by Cronos
Seven weekends deep into its theatrical run, Christopher Nolan’s mythic epic has spent the entire summer defying the usual rules of box office gravity. What started as a genuinely risky bet, a nearly three-hour, R-rated adaptation of ancient Greek poetry, has instead become one of the defining theatrical events of the year, and it’s still finding new ways to surprise industry watchers.
That surprise continued into the Labor Day stretch, with ‘The Odyssey’ climbing back to the top of the domestic box office chart, reclaiming the number one position it had briefly ceded in the weeks prior. The film’s ability to keep pulling in crowds this deep into its release has become a genuine talking point among analysts tracking the summer’s broader box office recovery.
According to figures shared by box office analyst Luiz Fernando, ‘The Odyssey’ pulled in a strong $1.9 million on its seventh Monday in release, marking just a 26.9% drop from the previous Monday despite the film losing 474 theaters heading into the weekend. That performance makes it the biggest seventh Monday ever for an R-rated film, edging past ‘Obsession’s’ $1.5 million mark, a 33.1% difference between the two horror and epic hits.
The film’s steady hold also places it as the second-biggest seventh Monday of Christopher Nolan’s entire career, trailing only ‘The Dark Knight’s’ Labor Day-boosted $2.5 million performance, and the second-biggest seventh Monday for any July release, behind only ‘Barbie’s’ similarly holiday-boosted $3.2 million.
That sustained momentum has pushed ‘The Odyssey’ to a $565.8 million domestic cume, positioning the film to surpass ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s’ $574.9 million run and become Universal’s second-highest-grossing film ever at the North American box office, trailing only the studio’s own ‘Jurassic World.’
The film’s trajectory has consistently outpaced even recent expectations. Just two weeks ago, the $600 million domestic mark seemed like a realistic ceiling for the film’s total; now, that same figure has effectively locked in as a new baseline given how resilient the film’s holds have remained heading into the fall.
Industry estimates now project ‘The Odyssey’ could ultimately land somewhere between $610 million and $630 million domestically by the time its theatrical run winds down, a range that would have seemed almost unthinkable for an original, adult-skewing epic when the film first opened back in July.
‘The Odyssey’ has already become Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing film ever worldwide, having crossed $1 billion globally earlier this summer and surpassing ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ as his career benchmark. The film has also become IMAX’s biggest release of all time, generating close to $289 million in ticket sales through that format alone.
With Labor Day traffic giving the film another meaningful boost and premium format demand showing no signs of slowing down, ‘The Odyssey’ continues proving that audiences remain genuinely hungry for large-scale theatrical spectacle, even outside the confines of an established franchise. For Universal, the film’s continued dominance well into September only adds to what’s already become one of the studio’s most successful theatrical releases in recent memory.
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Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is based on Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem rather than the book by Emily Watson
Emily Wilson published a famously scathing review of the movie in The London Review of Books, which temporarily crashed their website
Wilson wrote that she would be “ashamed to have written any part of this script” and slammed the film for having “abysmal writing” and a “gimmicky narrative structure.” She argued that Matt Damon’s Odysseus completely stripped away the wily, strategic depth of the original character, leaving him as a flat, uncomplicated action hero who had “no convincing motivation.”.
I still refuse to pay for cultural sabotage. The good news is that it has raised a lot of interest in reading the original story.
The film wasn’t woke or anti-woke.
It wasn’t a completely true to the bronze age poem work - not in tone (which didn’t have the delight in slaughter of the epic - ref the slaughter of the maids) nor in costume.
But it was an interpretation of the work that was good to watch and got a lot of people to read the original (which is surprisingly easy to read for a 3000 year old epic)
spetznaz “this is why for politics and voting we MUST fight hard to ensure we win. Assumptions can be very dangerous. “
very correct. Too often here on FR (and i’ve been on this site since 2001), we become an echo chamber and then are surprised by the actions of the other side - OR the vast numbers of undecided.
Do you mean that because the Greek gods didn't play a role in the film??
or are you objecting to the non-depiction of Helen's origins?
Helen was the daughter of a woman and Zeus in the guise of a swan, and born from an egg - she should have been half swan-half woman
She ought to have looked like this, right?
The film is boring as hell, especially the last 60 minutes. There are a few scenes that are compelling (the Cyclops, the Silver Knights, The Hydra whirlpool).
The worst part was the stupid dialogue. The “Greek” characters ALL speak in modern New York City slang (for example: Who’s you’re daddy).
Then you got Ellan Page acting as the strongest soldier in the entire film. Ha Ha Ha! It’s nothing but schlock.
We are at a point where Objective thinking is criticized and mocked when it doesn’t line up with their talking points, on both sides.
The left put all their chips into this movie and for once it worked out in their favor.
It is absolutely hilarious to see What I assume are living humans who are “on the right” saying the exact same thing the leftists on Reddit are saying, but for their half the debate.
“ The left put all their chips into this movie”
That is not a fact.
What is this? A political forum? Or a movie review site?
What do I care what you thought of this movie?
hmmm....
1. the last 60 minutes are pretty much as in the epic - except for the hanging of the maids and the disembowelling of the bad servant
2. well, come on, they would have had to speak in Mycenean Greek, not even Attic leave alone Koine
3. Ellen Page isn’t the ‘strongest soldier’ in the film - did you see it? She’s the sap who is played by Odysseus to give the horse
“The left put all their chips into this movie and for once it worked out in their favor.”
I thought so too before I went to see it for myself.
the movie does NOT veer left (or right) - it does add in Christian sensibilities and PTSD to a pagan tale
It’s being called Nolan’s highest grossing film.
Grossing.
You know what the means, right?
Lets see what it nets, eh?
Per BOM...
Domestic (36.4%)
$565,796,445
International (63.6%)
$989,388,000
Worldwide
$1,555,184,445
For what shall it profit Hollyweird, if it shall gain the rest of the world while losing its own country?
Looks like it’s gonna make a hundred mil in China.
Well, whatever they make in China, they won’t see much of that back will, they?
China keeps most of it, around three quarters.
“...even buying out theaters that end up showing it to an empty theater ...”
I had not heard of this tactic until the numbers relating to Robert Redford’s movie ‘Truth’ came out. ‘Truth’ was about the media’s attempt to white-wash the attacks on POTUS candidate George W Bush by several democRATic operatives and CBS.
I don’t have the numbers at hand but it was like actual, butts-in-the-seats attendance was about 30% of the tickets sold.
Let me know when this shitbag is streaming....for some laughs.
I don’t go to the movie theatres but watch everything here at home. The new 2025 Superman movie lasted about 10 minutes til I shut it down. It was too stupid. The Odyssey lasted about the same. Boring.
I remember your posts from that time. Whether the numbers are real or inflated (e.g. by bulk ticket purchases by interested/committed parties), doesn't change the fact that you were among the few here who predicted that it would do well, financially.
One thing I tell my bible study is that the old testatment is like the Odyssey. It can be read by an unsaved mind.
The new new testament however is gibberish to most who do not believe.
“ I remember your posts from that time. Whether the numbers are real or inflated (e.g. by bulk ticket purchases by interested/committed parties), doesn’t change the fact that you were among the few here who predicted that it would do well, financially.”
I remember not being able to even discuss it.
He’s. I am among two or three who said it would do well financially
He had all his “Oppenheimer’ audience plus more to depend on. His producer good business woman. She’d have done the work of foreseeing. He has reputation of finishing early and under budget.
His audience is dependable. He knows and respects them.
He is a good storyteller. His education is literature. I knew he’d do a watchable movie, less than a minute of CGI, good acting.
And people want to see this story on screen. I
He did all of that, as usual.
Of course it will do well.
And people are starved for a good cinema event. Last one was ‘Twisters’ and ‘The Fall Guy’
This and ‘Spiderman’ are beyond the norm. People want a story.
No one wanted to discuss any of that.
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