Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Sails Back Into IMAX 70MM After ‘Digger’ Sinks at the Box Office

Few films in recent memory have dominated the premium-format conversation like Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’. Shot entirely with IMAX cameras, the Homer adaptation was built for the biggest screens possible, and audiences have treated it that way since it opened on July 17.

Excitement started early. Tickets for the first IMAX 70mm screenings went on sale a full year in advance, with seats filling quickly, and those screens kept selling out at all hours more than 2 months into the run.

Now ‘The Odyssey’ is heading back. Universal Studios announced on Tuesday that the epic will return to select IMAX theaters and 70mm screens starting Friday, October 9. IMAX had been showing Nolan’s film in 70mm all summer. Last weekend, though, it had to give those screens to Warner Bros.’ ‘Digger’, starring Tom Cruise.

The plan was for ‘Digger’ to become a premium-format event of its own, since it was shot in 65mm VistaVision, much like Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’ last year. Instead, the film opened disastrously, and IMAX is now turning back to ‘The Odyssey’.

Some fans had been confused about the switch from the beginning. Moviegoers online said their local IMAX screenings of ‘The Odyssey’ were consistently full before the film suddenly disappeared to make room for ‘Digger’.

Guess who’s coming back to IMAX theatres? After #DIGGER’s disastrous performance globally, IMAX has just announced that #ChristopherNolan’s Epic #TheOdyssey will reclaim its historic journey in IMAX theatres, this time including IMAX 70MM format, this week already, on FRI OCT 9! https://t.co/b564OAMZxD

— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) October 6, 2026

The return comes at the end of a remarkable box office run. Starring Matt Damon, ‘The Odyssey’ has earned $1.76 billion worldwide and became Universal’s highest-grossing film of all time before inflation adjustment.

It passed the $1.67 billion global total set by ‘Jurassic World’ in 2015, reaching the milestone in its ninth weekend. It is also Nolan’s biggest film ever, topping even the inflation-adjusted total of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’.

The final trailer for Christopher Nolan’s ‘THE ODYSSEY’ has been released. In theaters on July 17. https://t.co/xn42TcX4aG

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) July 1, 2026

The list keeps going. ‘The Odyssey’ holds the all-time R-rated box office record and has become the highest-grossing film in IMAX history. It is also Nolan’s third film to pass $1 billion, coming 18 years after ‘The Dark Knight’. And it is the first film that isn’t a sequel or remake since ‘Avatar’ in early 2010 to earn more than $1 billion outside the U.S.

The studio is clearly thrilled. “What Chris and Emma [Thomas] have created will go down as one of the most ambitious and brilliantly executed films in cinematic history,” NBCUniversal Entertainment Chairman Donna Langley said in a statement shared with TheWrap.

Langley also called it a generational event that has energized moviegoing itself. The film continues Nolan’s partnership with Universal, which began 5 years ago when he left Warner Bros. to make ‘Oppenheimer’.

The 70mm engagement could last for a while. The next true IMAX 70mm release is ‘Dune: Part Three’, which doesn’t open until December 18, leaving ‘The Odyssey’ plenty of room on those screens.

A man. A plan. A meltdown. DIGGER. Only in theaters October 2. https://t.co/tHOTqXsWIM

— Tom Cruise (@TomCruise) September 9, 2026

Digital IMAX screenings are also part of this weekend’s re-release, but those are expected to be short-lived. ‘Street Fighter’ opens a week later and will likely take over many of those screens.

For anyone who missed it, or wants to see it again, this is another chance to catch the epic in the format Nolan intended. The cast includes Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Jon Bernthal, and more.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!