Christopher Nolan films are pretty much guaranteed to rake in critical and commercial success. But in the wake of Nolan’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, hype for his all-star, all-IMAX take on The Odyssey started to build exponentially. Not many films would be so bold to put select tickets on sale an entire year in advance, but The Odyssey did, and people bought the hell out of them.
It was a clever publicity stunt that generated long-lead excitement for the movie. Then, when tickets went on sale again, in the more conventional month-ahead-of-time window, it was also a competitive process—especially for fans with specific format preferences, since The Odyssey offers a lot of options.
That brings us to now: opening weekend. As people race to get their eyeballs on Matt Damon’s mythical adventure, maybe while clutching the Trojan horse popcorn bucket, the numbers are reflecting all the pre-sales and present enthusiasm. As Variety reports, preview screenings alone have already netted $17.6 million—squeaking past Toy Story 5‘s $17.5 million and notching the best preview-screening numbers of 2026 so far.
While early predictions have suggested Spider-Man: Brand New Day could set yet another record when it opens in a couple of weeks (it’s a great year for Tom Holland, who’s also in The Odyssey), Nolan’s latest is already safely sailing toward blockbuster territory.
Variety writes that The Odyssey will likely make “between $90 million and $100 million in its opening weekend,” which would be “Nolan’s biggest launch since The Dark Knight Rises racked up $160 million in 2012.”
That said, the trade also notes that the preview-night bonanza means The Odyssey could very well end up topping those predictions; if it pulls in over $100 million on its opening weekend, it will be the third film in 2026 to do so, after Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
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