Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has officially passed $1 billion at the global box office after just three weeks in theaters.
It’s an inevitable but welcome update for the sprawling, nearly 3-hour epic after it first premiered in theaters July 17 (via Variety). Reaching the milestone makes it Nolan’s first film to do so in more than 14 years, with his last movie to achieve such a number being The Dark Knight Rises in 2012.
Of the $1 billion, $429.65 million was earned domestically and $578.8 million was earned internationally. Its total actually sits at $1.008 billion, meaning it won’t be long before it passes The Dark Knight Rises’ $1.08 billion record to become Nolan’s highest-grossing picture of all time.
Variety added that Imax’s portion of The Odyssey ticket sales amount to a whopping $257 million. As the director’s choice to film the movie entirely in Imax continues to drive audiences to theaters, it’s now on track to become the company’s biggest release in history before the weekend is out.
There have been a few $1 billion movies to emerge throughout 2026 as the summer continues. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and Toy Story 5 both represented the power animation has in theaters when they crossed the mark earlier this year. Spider-Man: Brand New Day reached the number just days ago and broke a few records along the way. Music biopic Michael also passed the $1 billion mark.
The Odyssey raked in $264 million in its opening weekend and dropped just 19% in its second. Now heading into its fourth weekend in theaters, it shows no significant signs of slowing down, meaning Nolan will have his work cut out if he wants to deliver another highest-grossing movie when he eventually releases his next project.
While audiences everywhere are turning up to theaters to see how The Odyssey adapts the events of a 3,000-year-old story, not everyone has fallen in love with this version of the tale. Greek translator Emily Wilson launched a scathing review of the film one week after its premiere and went back for a second attack earlier this week. For more, you can read about stars Tom Holland and Zendaya’s recent run in theaters, as well as Nolan’s take on amateur film criticism.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
