Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ storms past $1.55bn to become 14th highest grossing film ever

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has crossed another extraordinary box office milestone, with the Homer adaptation now earning approximately $1.55bn worldwide and moving into 14th place among the highest grossing films in history.

The latest figures put the Universal Pictures release at around $1.55bn globally, including roughly $563.8m from North America and close to $988.8m from international markets. The film’s worldwide total has continued to climb through its seventh weekend in cinemas, with international markets providing a particularly strong contribution.

The achievement gives Nolan another major career milestone only weeks after The Odyssey became the filmmaker’s highest grossing film ever. Earlier in August, the epic crossed $1.1bn worldwide, surpassing The Dark Knight Rises, which had previously held Nolan’s personal box office record with approximately $1.08bn.

The latest milestone also puts The Odyssey ahead of The Avengers, which finished its original worldwide run with approximately $1.52bn. By passing that figure, Nolan’s film has entered the top tier of global box office performers and is now being reported as the 14th highest grossing movie ever.

The performance is particularly striking because The Odyssey is an original theatrical interpretation of one of the oldest surviving works of Western literature rather than an established modern film franchise. Nolan adapted Homer’s ancient Greek epic around Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, as the legendary king attempts to return home to Ithaca after the Trojan War.

The film also features Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron and Himesh Patel. Its story follows Odysseus through a dangerous journey involving mythical figures and creatures as he attempts to reunite with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus.

The film opened strongly worldwide in July. The Guardian reported that The Odyssey collected $264m globally during its opening weekend, giving Nolan a larger worldwide debut than his previous film, Oppenheimer. The film was released in international markets from July 15, followed by its North American opening on July 17.

Its reported production budget stands at approximately $250m, making the current worldwide gross particularly significant for Universal and Nolan’s production company Syncopy. The film has already generated more than six times its reported production budget in worldwide ticket sales, although box office gross should not be confused with studio profit because cinemas, distribution costs and marketing expenses also affect the final financial result.

A major part of the film’s theatrical appeal has been its premium format presentation. The Odyssey was shot entirely with IMAX 70mm film cameras, a technical choice that became a major part of its theatrical campaign. IMAX reported a record $52m worldwide opening weekend for the film across its network, with IMAX screenings accounting for about 20% of the movie’s global opening weekend box office.

International markets have continued to play an important role in the film’s run. South Korea, for example, gave the movie a strong reception after its August 5 release, with more than 1.8m admissions recorded by August 9 according to data from the Korean Film Council.

With The Odyssey still playing internationally, its final worldwide total remains unsettled.