Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Sails Into Uncharted Territory as Universal’s First Film To Hit a Historic Global Milestone

Christopher Nolan has never been shy about thinking big, but ‘The Odyssey‘ is operating on another scale. The director’s take on Homer’s epic opened in July, and it hasn’t stopped collecting records since. Its box office run has become one of the biggest stories of a year already crowded with billion-dollar hits.

The film reunited Nolan with Universal, the studio behind ‘Oppenheimer’. It stars Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya and Charlize Theron, and reportedly cost $250 million to make. It is also the first film shot entirely on IMAX film cameras, which helped it break the all-time box office record for an IMAX release.

The early numbers were already enormous. It opened to $123.5 million domestically, the biggest Universal R-rated opening, and it landed the biggest IMAX 70MM opening weekend domestically at $6.3 million. It crossed $1 billion worldwide within weeks and soon passed ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ as Nolan’s highest-grossing film ever.

Now the film has hit another landmark. Kalshi Film reported on X that ‘The Odyssey’ has officially become the first Universal movie ever to cross $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office. The post adds that it has also reached $1.1 billion internationally, another all-time record for the studio.

The milestone follows a run of studio records. Deadline reported that the film’s total of $1.684 billion passed 2015’s ‘Jurassic World’, which ended its run at $1.677 billion, making it Universal’s highest-grossing movie ever. By that weekend, it counted $601.2 million domestically and $1.083 billion internationally.

‘THE ODYSSEY’ has officially become the first Universal film ever to cross $1.7 BILLION at the worldwide box office. It has also reached $1.1 BILLION internationally, another all-time record for the studio. https://t.co/nCp6ZjBJ1H
— Kalshi Film (@Kalshi_Film) September 19, 2026

That total makes it the 12th highest-grossing film of all time and the third-biggest non-franchise title ever. It also passed the global gross of Disney’s live-action ‘The Lion King’ at $1.662 billion. Along the way, it became the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, ahead of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ at $1.33 billion.

Its staying power is a big part of the story. The film returned to No. 1 globally in its eighth weekend after dropping just 9% domestically, and it has posted a multiple of 6.39x at the global box office. Those are the kinds of holds usually reserved for family films, not 3-hour R-rated epics.

It is not alone at the top this year. ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ remains the highest-grossing film of 2026, while ‘The Odyssey’ is the second biggest. Universal has also had ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ and ‘Michael’ cross $1 billion, making this one of the studio’s best years ever.

Defy the Gods. Watch the New Trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey and experience the film in theaters 7 17 26. pic.twitter.com/Ve6wUGxw3P
— The Odyssey Movie (@odysseymovie) May 5, 2026

The film’s reception has been just as strong as its earnings. Critics praised Nolan’s direction, the cast, and the set pieces, though some criticized its deviations from the source material and the writing. Audiences gave it an A CinemaScore, and the poster shared with the Kalshi Film post highlights the film’s wall of star ratings.

Nolan’s own career totals are staggering too. His films have earned over $7.7 billion worldwide, which makes him the third-highest-grossing film director of all time. ‘Oppenheimer’, his previous Universal hit, made about $975.8 million.

For Universal, the timing could hardly be better. The studio has passed $4 billion worldwide this year, and its Nolan partnership is delivering results few thought possible. Whether the film can keep climbing is the next question, and the way it has held up suggests the run isn’t over yet.