Every Record Broken By The Odyssey So Far

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey exceeded all expectations when it finally released in theaters this weekend. The film, which has received widespread acclaim from critics and general moviegoers alike, finds Nolan adapting Homer’s epic poem, which is one of the longest-surviving pieces of Western literature.

The Odyssey follows Odysseus (Matt Damon), a hero of the Trojan War, as he embarks on a long and tumultuous voyage back to his home of Ithaca. As he faces off against a cyclops, Poseidon’s wrath, a Goddess capable of turning men into pigs, and more, Odysseus’ wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) fends off a group of unruly suitors, led by Antinous (Robert Pattinson), who wish to marry her and, in turn, become the ruler of Ithaca. To prevent the ruin of his family home and preserve the sanctity of his family, Odysseus’ son Telemachus (Tom Holland) embarks on a journey of his own to find his father.

After masterminding hit films like Oppenheimer and Interstellar, Christopher Nolan has become a brand unto himself, making any project he is associated with immediately among the most anticipated releases of a given year. And yet, despite the immense hype surrounding The Odyssey, Nolan defies expectations just like Odysseus defies the Gods.

Just a few days after its wide release, The Odyssey is breaking record after record, demonstrating the enduring appeal of a filmmaker like Nolan and such rich source material as Homer’s epic poem.

11 Highest Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score Of Any Christopher Nolan Movie

None of Christopher Nolan’s 13 films to date hold the unwanted ‘Rotten’ status on Rotten Tomatoes. But despite featuring heavy-hitter after heavy-hitter across a career spanning nearly 30 years, Nolan claimed his highest Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score to date with The Odyssey.

The Odyssey currently has a 95% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, which bests the once-highest rated movie in Nolan’s filmography - The Dark Knight - by a single percentage point.

10 Biggest Worldwide Box Office Opening For Christopher Nolan

The Dark Knight Rises previously held the record for biggest worldwide box office opening of Christopher Nolan’s career after it earned a stunning $249.9 million back in 2012. The Odyssey somehow surpassed this impressive gross by collecting approximately $264 million worldwide in its first weekend.

The Odyssey also marks the highest grossing opening weekend of Christopher Nolan’s entire career in nearly 50 countries, including India, Brazil, and Spain.

9 Highest Box Office Debut In History For Matt Damon As A Leading Man

The Bourne Ultimatum earned $69.2 million in its opening weekend and thus has long held the record for biggest box office opening in Matt Damon’s career as a leading man. The Odyssey bested Damon’s third Bourne outing with an opening weekend domestic gross of $124.5 million.

Of note, The Odyssey also marks Matt Damon’s first starring movie to gross over $100 million in its opening weekend.

8 Biggest Live-Action Domestic Debut Of 2026

Toy Story 5 ($159.6 million) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131.7 million) have the biggest opening weekends of 2026, but The Odyssey ranks as the biggest opening weekend for a live-action movie of the year.

Nolan’s film beats Michael, which opened to $97.2 million back in April. It also currently stands as the only live-action movie of 2026 to gross more than $100 million in its first weekend.

7 Biggest R-Rated Domestic Debut Of 2026

Backrooms set a high bar for R-rated movies earlier this summer when it opened to a whopping $81.4 million at the domestic box office, but Christopher Nolan’s latest movie surpassed Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut with an estimated $124.5 million in domestic ticket sales over the course of its first weekend.

6 Biggest Box Office Previews of 2026

The Odyssey grossed $17.6 million in Thursday night preview showings domestically, beating out Toy Story 5’s preview showings gross of $17.5 million last month. This means that The Odyssey currently holds the record for the highest grossing box office previews of the year.

5 Universal Pictures' Biggest R-Rated Debut In History

Prior to The Odyssey, the record for Universal Pictures’ biggest opening weekend for an R-rated film was Fifty Shades of Grey, which earned $85.1 million. Christopher Nolan’s film easily surpassed this total by nearly $40 million. Also, The Odyssey is also the first R-rated movie in Universal Pictures’ history to gross more than $100 million in its opening weekend.

4 Highest Grossing R-Rated Opening Weekend That Isn’t A Deadpool Movie

Currently, the three highest grossing openings for R-rated movies are Deadpool & Wolverine ($211.4 million), Deadpool ($132.4 million), and Deadpool 2 ($125.5 million). Falling just behind the latter is The Odyssey with an opening weekend domestic gross of $124.5 million. This means that, excluding movies about the merc with the mouth, The Odyssey holds the distinction for biggest opening weekend of an R-rated movie of all time.

3 Best Opening Weekend Ever for a Swords and Sandals Epic

Swords and sandals epics have graced the big screen for decades, but none have come close to the box office triumph of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Previously, the opening weekend record for swords and sandals movies was held by Zack Snyder’s 300, which opened to $70.8 million. Nolan’s film grossed over $50 million in its opening weekend.

2 First Movie In History To Be Filmed Entirely In IMAX

The Odyssey is the first feature film in cinema history to be shot entirely with IMAX 70mm film cameras. While previous movies like Dunkirk and Oppenheimer used IMAX cameras for significant portions of their runtimes, they could not be filmed exclusively on IMAX cameras due to the noise such devices create, which impeded upon dialogue scenes.