411 Box Office Report: The Odyssey Soars Its Way To #1 With $124 Million

Greek mythology reigned at the box office this weekend as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey powered its way to a robust #1 start. The action-adventure film rode a wave of momentum to bring in $124 million in its opening weekend, beating out the expectations which had it in the $100 million range.

The opening marks the best opening for a live-action film of the year, and third-best of any kind behind only Toy Story 5 ($159.7 million) and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($131.7 million). It is also the third-best start for Nolan behind The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) and The Dark Knight Rises ($160.9 million), and the best opening of Matt Damon’s career. It’s also the fifth-best opening for an R-rated film behind Deadpool & Wolverine, Deadpool, Deadpool 2, and It: Chapter One.

There was a lot of speculation from casual box office watchers that The Odyssey might be hampered by right-wing criticism of a couple of the diverse casting choices but as is usually the case, controversy didn’t have any real effect on the box office. Audiences will go see what they want to see and boycott calls rarely have much impact no matter who they come from. Audiences were more interested in seeing the latest Nolan film, with exits showing that 51% went because of his name being on the director’s chair. It helps that the film is the best reviewed of Nolan ‘s career right now, with a 95% RT critic aggregate edging out Dark Knight and Memento (both 94%), though that could of course eventually drop.

But it wasn’t just critics; audiences love the movie as well with a 97% RT audience rating, A CinemaScore, and 81% Rentrak recommend. The film is simply resonating with pretty much everyone, and that resulted in hype building throughout the weekend. The film did well overseas as well with $139.6 million from international markets for a $264.1 million worldwide start.

It should be noted that The Odyssey isn’t cheap, having a production budget of $250 million. But Universal isn’t sweating it, because this is Christopher Nolan who is known for having great box office legs. Oppenheimer quadrupled its initial opening weekend, Dunkirk had a multiple of 3.76 and even Tenet, which was released during the pandemic, legged out to almost three times its opening weekend.

The Odyssey probably won’t hit Oppenheimer style legs because the hype and opening weekend were bigger here, as advance pre-sales showed. It also has its length (almost three hours) and the R-rating working against it on that front. But even tripling its start would put it in the $360 million to $370 million range, which seems very doable for the film. And when you add in overseas grosses, this will be another hefty Nolan hit.

Moana followed up its disappointing opening weekend with an expected drop, down 56% to $19 million. The Disney live-action remake is in full bomb territory now, with just $82.1 million domestically and $178.5 million thus far against a $250 million budget. At this point, the film is expected to lose over $100 million and probably won’t get much over $110 million, if even that much.

On the other hand, Minions & Monsters had a good hold in its third weekend. The Universal animated sequel was down just 30% to bring in $14.8 million. That pushes the film’s totals to $137.6 million domestically and $357.9 million worldwide, another hit for the studio against an $85 million production budget. It’s not a money maker on the level of the previous entries, but it will add to the studios’ balance sheets rather than take from them.

Toy Story 5 was in a tie with Minions & Monsters in the weekend estimates at $14.8 million, down 22% in its fourth weekend. The Pixar sequel added has totaled $430.9 million domestic and $908.5 million worldwide against a $250 million budget. It will pass Toy Story 4’s $434 million in short order to become the highest stateside total for the franchise and should finish north of $455 million.

Evil Dead Burns crashed a bit in its sophomore weekend, down 64% to just $5 million. That is a drop on par with the 2013 entry’s 63% slip, though that film started at $25.8 million and not the $13.7 million that Burn launched to. Don’t worry too much about this one; at $24.2 million domestically and $35.5 million, it will bring New Line profit against its $20 million budget. But it is a letdown considering how much Evil Dead Rise did just three years ago. $30 million remains the likely stateside endgame.

A24’s The Invite from Olivia Wilde had a very good hold of 34% in its sophomore frame of wide release. The romantic comedy scored another $3.9 million, putting it at $15 million in the US and $19.9 million worldwide. For a lower profile film, that’s quite decent. The movie is still looking at $20 million in the US and while we don’t know its budget, it should be in fine shape.

Young Washington slipped 47% in its third weekend to tally $3.7 million. Angel Studios’ historical drama has $41 million this far with a profitable $45 million domestic total likely against a $20 million budget.

Obsession was down just 35% in its 10th weekend, particularly good considering it hit Peacock streaming this week. The breakout indie horror film now has $258.5 million domestically and $442.7 million worldwide against a budget of just $1 million. It’s just about done with its theatrical run but will obviously close a bit over $260 million.

Supergirl dropped another 59% in its fifth weekend. The DC Studios film grossed $1.5 million, bringing its totals to a not-good $70 million domestically and $121.2 million worldwide against a $170 million budget. It won’t make it to $75 million in the US.

Disclosure Day closed the top 10 as it fell 57% in its sixth weekend with $1.5 million. The Steven Spielberg-directed sci-fi film has $114.7 million in the US and $234.4 million worldwide and will probably be a minor success against a $110 million budget. It hits digital this week.

The Odyssey will reign next weekend as no studio was willing to go up with it in its second frame, meaning that there are no new wide releases. The limited releases include Nicolas Winding Refn’s Her Private Hell and Pinocchio: Unstrung, the latest film in the Twisted Childhood Universe — better known as the “Poohniverse.”

Box Office Top Ten (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)

1. The Odyssey – $124.5 million ($124.5 million total, $264.1 million WW)
2. Moana – $19 million ($82.1 million total, $178.5 million WW)
3. Minions & Monsters – $14.8 million ($137.6 million total, $357.9 million WW)
3. Toy Story 5 – $14.8 million ($430.9 million total, $908.5 million WW)
5. Evil Dead Burn – $5 million ($24.2 million total, $35.5 million WW)
6. The Invite – $3.9 million ($15 million total, $19.9 million WW)
7. Young Washington – $3.7 million ($41 million total, $41 million WW)
9. Obsession – $2.5 million ($258.5 million total, $442.7 million WW)
9. Supergirl – $1.5 million ($70 million total, $121.2 million WW)
10. Disclosure Day – $1.5 million ($114.7 million total, $234.4 million WW)