‘The Odyssey’ Is Refusing to Leave the Box Office Anytime Soon & It Just Joined an Elite Box Office Club

Most big movies eventually slow down at the box office. A huge opening weekend is followed by smaller numbers, fewer screens, and eventually the end of the theatrical run. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, however, is taking a very different path. Nearly two months after arriving in theaters, the epic is still bringing in more than $1 million a day in the U.S., putting it in a very small group of movies that have shown this kind of staying power.

The Matt Damon-led film opened on July 17 and quickly became one of the biggest movie stories of the year. Since then, it has continued to perform well even as newer releases have arrived. According to the latest box office figures cited in the report, The Odyssey has now made more than $589 million in North America and has passed $1.6 billion worldwide. Those numbers have turned the movie into one of Nolan’s biggest successes and a major win for Universal.

One of the most impressive parts of the run is how long the movie has stayed above the $1 million daily mark. The Odyssey has now managed 53 straight days with domestic grosses above that level. That puts it ahead of a group of major hits that previously held the record at 52 days. Movies such as Avatar: The Way of Water, Toy Story 4, Aladdin, Incredibles 2, The Avengers, The Hangover, and Shrek all reached that 52-day mark.

The movie also got some extra help from the Labor Day holiday. Its performance on the holiday Monday was especially strong for a film that had already been in theaters for so long. Instead of simply continuing its normal decline, The Odyssey saw a noticeable jump from the previous Monday. That gave the film another boost and helped show that audiences were still willing to make a trip to the theater for it.

There is also a major reason why The Odyssey continues to attract people on the big screen. Nolan shot the entire movie using IMAX 70mm cameras, making it the first commercial feature to be filmed completely in that format. The large-scale presentation has become a major part of the movie’s appeal, especially for viewers who want to see the epic adventure in the biggest possible way.

IMAX has clearly noticed the demand. The company has continued extending the film’s run, with screenings now scheduled to continue through the end of September. IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond has described The Odyssey as more than just another successful movie, saying it has become a global cultural event. He also suggested that audiences could continue turning up for the film for weeks or even months.

The movie’s worldwide numbers make the achievement even more interesting. The Odyssey has reportedly passed $1 billion internationally, making it the 17th film ever to reach that milestone. It is also being described as the first Hollywood original that is not a sequel or remake to reach that level internationally since Avatar in 2009.

That is a big deal for a movie based on an ancient Greek poem. The Odyssey runs for nearly three hours and is built around a story that has been around for thousands of years. Yet audiences have continued showing up in huge numbers. The movie is now closing in on $600 million domestically, and its final total could climb much higher before its theatrical run is over.

For Nolan, the success is another reminder that original movies can still become major theatrical events. The Odyssey did not need an existing superhero universe or a popular franchise to attract massive crowds. Instead, it relied on Nolan’s name, a huge cast, an epic story, and the promise of a massive cinema experience.

With IMAX screenings continuing and the box office still holding up, The Odyssey does not look ready to disappear from theaters just yet. Its final numbers may end up being just as impressive as its opening, which is something very few modern blockbusters can claim.

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