‘The Odyssey’ beats ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ to become the biggest R rated film ever
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has officially made box office history, overtaking Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest grossing R rated film ever released.
According to Variety, the epic has reached $1.352bn worldwide, putting it ahead of the $1.338bn earned by Marvel's Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024. The result gives Nolan's latest film another major milestone after an extraordinary run in cinemas since its July 17 release.
The worldwide total includes $516m from North American cinemas and $835m from international markets. Those figures underline the unusually strong performance of a nearly three hour historical adventure aimed at adult audiences and based on one of the oldest surviving works of Western literature.
The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, as he attempts to return home following the Trojan War. The cast also includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo.
The film's success has been closely linked to the theatrical experience Nolan designed around it. The production was shot entirely with IMAX cameras, making it the first feature to achieve that distinction. IMAX screenings have become a major part of its box office performance, with the format contributing $354m globally by the latest figures reported by Variety.
That IMAX result has also produced another record for Nolan. The Odyssey has overtaken Avatar to become the highest grossing IMAX release of all time, with the earlier James Cameron film having earned $271m in its original theatrical run, before adjusting for inflation.
The achievement also makes The Odyssey Nolan's biggest film at the worldwide box office. It has moved past The Dark Knight Rises, which finished its theatrical run with approximately $1.08bn globally. The milestone adds another commercial landmark to a filmography that already includes Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Oppenheimer and the Dark Knight trilogy.
The latest result is particularly striking because The Odyssey is not based on a contemporary franchise. Instead, Nolan has adapted Homer's ancient Greek epic, a story that has been retold for thousands of years. The film follows Odysseus through his dangerous journey home after the Trojan War, with the story bringing mythology, action and large scale spectacle to modern cinemas.
Its opening also demonstrated Nolan's considerable drawing power. The film began its domestic run with $123m and established itself as one of the year's biggest theatrical releases. Earlier in August, Variety reported that The Odyssey had already passed $1bn worldwide after only three weeks, making it Nolan's first film since The Dark Knight Rises to cross that threshold.
The film's IMAX performance has been especially remarkable. Before reaching its latest record, The Odyssey had already generated $140m in IMAX revenue after two weekends.