Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Just Pulled Off An IMAX Feat Only ‘Avengers Endgame’ Has Matched

Christopher Nolan has spent years turning IMAX screens into an event unto themselves, and his latest epic is proving that strategy pays off in a way few films ever have. ‘The Odyssey’ is the first feature film shot entirely with IMAX cameras, making it best experienced on the format Nolan has championed since reviving theaters during the pandemic.

The film stars Matt Damon as the Greek king Odysseus, with Tom Holland playing his son Telemachus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, and Zendaya as Athena, and it arrived in theaters with a runtime just under three hours. Despite being limited to only around 360 IMAX theaters in the United States, demand for ‘The Odyssey’ proved massive enough to reshape opening weekend history.

That demand translated into a staggering number. As DiscussingFilm noted on X, ‘The Odyssey’ notched the second biggest opening ever for an IMAX release, trailing only ‘Avengers Endgame.’ The film pulled in $51.8 million from IMAX screens globally during its opening weekend, a figure that also helped push it past ‘Oppenheimer’ as the biggest live action release of Nolan’s career at the format.

The IMAX haul was just one piece of a much bigger box office story. ‘The Odyssey’ launched with an estimated $124.5 million domestically and another $139.6 million overseas for a $264.1 million global debut, marking Nolan’s best opening since 2012’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ Twenty six markets, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia and Mexico, saw the biggest IMAX opening of all time for the film.

IMAX itself called the numbers a defining moment for the company. Rich Gelfond, chief executive of IMAX, described ‘The Odyssey’ as belonging to a rarified group of instant classic blockbusters that fully leverage the IMAX platform, adding that even IMAX does not know how far the film’s success will grow the brand in comments shared through Variety. He also pointed to record presales and strong critical reception as reasons to expect a long theatrical run for the film.

The scale of the debut is even more notable given the state of the summer box office heading into the release. ‘The Odyssey’ arrived after three consecutive underperformers in Warner Bros and DC’s ‘Supergirl,’ Universal and Illumination’s ‘Minions and Monsters,’ and Disney’s live action ‘Moana,’ and its opening helped domestic ticket sales climb roughly 10 percent above where they stood in 2025. The film has not yet opened in several major markets, including South Korea, China and Japan, meaning its global haul is likely to keep climbing in the weeks ahead.

For a project Nolan has reportedly treated as a long held ambition, watching ‘The Odyssey’ fall just short of ‘Avengers Endgame’ in IMAX history is a striking validation of his big screen philosophy. With the film still expanding into new territories and IMAX screens booked out for weeks, how high do you think ‘The Odyssey’ can climb before its run is through?