Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Could Soon Become His Highest-Grossing Movie Ever

Christopher Nolan has spent more than two decades building a reputation as one of the few directors whose name alone can sell out a theater. In the eighties and nineties that kind of pull belonged to Steven Spielberg, and in the two thousands it belonged to Quentin Tarantino, but in the current post pandemic theatrical landscape, that title has shifted to Nolan. His latest project, ‘The Odyssey,’ arrived as a nearly three hour, R rated adaptation of Homer’s ancient poem, a genre choice that felt like a gamble even for a filmmaker with his track record.

That gamble appears to be paying off in a massive way. The film opened domestically to one hundred twenty four million dollars and collected two hundred sixty four million dollars worldwide, marking Nolan’s biggest global launch of all time and topping ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ two hundred forty nine million dollar debut from two thousand twelve. The production reportedly carried a budget of about two hundred fifty million dollars, making it only the second Nolan film after ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ to cross the two hundred million dollar mark.

Now, industry trackers are looking even further down the road. Projections currently place the film’s potential final worldwide total somewhere between one point one billion and one point three billion dollars, a number that would push it past ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and make it the biggest commercial hit of Nolan’s career. The film crossed the three hundred fifty million dollar mark globally by the end of its first week, with its domestic total reaching one hundred ninety nine million dollars.

Momentum has stayed strong heading into the second weekend. With no major new wide releases scheduled to challenge it before ‘Spider-Man Brand New Day’ arrives later in the month, the film appears positioned to keep dominating conversation for at least another week, and reaching the billion dollar milestone increasingly feels less like a stretch and more like an inevitability. Should that trajectory hold, some analysts believe the film could even chase down the one point three three eight billion dollar R rated record currently held by ‘Deadpool.’

Speaking with the Irish Times ahead of the premiere, Nolan reflected on the pressure of bringing such a massive undertaking to audiences for the first time. He described the moment as thrilling but nerve wracking, saying it is exciting to talk with people who have just seen the film, though he admitted the feeling never gets any easier.

The reception so far has matched that excitement. Critics gave ‘The Odyssey’ a certified fresh ninety five percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences responded even more warmly with a ninety seven percent score and an A grade on CinemaScore. Fans have pointed to the film’s massive sea battles, its tense action thriller energy and Zendaya’s performance as Athena as major draws.

If the numbers hold, ‘The Odyssey’ would join ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ and ‘Michael’ as Universal’s third billion dollar film of the year, an extraordinary feat for a movie built around a nearly three thousand year old poem rather than existing franchise material. With Odysseus’s journey still playing out in theaters worldwide, do you think ‘The Odyssey’ actually has what it takes to sail past the billion dollar mark and dethrone ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ for good?