Universal’s star-studded epic leaves the competition stranded at sea, locking down the top spot and smashing expectations.
Over the weekend, Christopher Nolan took movie lovers on a three-hour odyssey that amassed over $124.5 million domestically.
Sailing straight to the number one spot, the Universal Pictures epic completely blew past initial industry projections of $90 million to $100 million. It didn’t just win the weekend—it completely rewrote the playbook for what a historical, R-rated feature can do in the middle of summer.
Globally, the film pulled in an additional $139.5 million from international territories, bringing its spectacular worldwide opening weekend total to a massive $264.1 million. It marks the biggest international launch of Nolan’s career, easily outperforming his previous historic milestones like The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
The staggering numbers were heavily driven by a massive push for premium large formats. Billed as the first feature film shot entirely using IMAX cameras, die-hard cinephiles flooded theaters. IMAX screens alone brought in $28 million domestically, leading to the company’s best single weekend on record. Demand was so intense that locations like the BFI IMAX in London ran rare round-the-clock showtimes over the weekend just to keep up with the crowds.
Meanwhile, the rest of the box office was left fighting for scraps in the film’s wake. Disney’s live-action Moana remake fell to a distant second place with $19 million, followed by a tight tie for third place between Universal’s Minions & Monsters and Disney’s Toy Story 5, both pulling in $14.8 million.
Weekend Box Office Top 5 (July 17 – 19, 2026)
| Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (Domestic) | Total Gross (Domestic) |
| 1 | The Odyssey | $124,500,000 | $124,500,000 |
| 2 | Moana | $19,000,000 | $82,081,000 |
| 3 | Minions & Monsters | $14,800,000 | $137,584,000 |
| 4 | Toy Story 5 | $14,800,000 | $430,919,000 |
| 5 | Evil Dead Burn | $5,000,000 | $24,151,000 |
With an “A” CinemaScore and near-unanimous praise from critics and audiences alike (sitting at a stellar 97% on Rotten Tomatoes), The Odyssey has clear sailing ahead. IMAX has dedicated its screens exclusively to the film for the next three weeks, and with major 70mm screenings already sold out deep into next month, Nolan’s epic journey looks like it’s going to be a fixture at the top of the charts for a long time to come.
