It looks like The Odyssey has a strong chance of crossing the $100 million mark at the box office this weekend, with Christopher Nolan’s film off to a strong start. According to Deadline’s early numbers, the film grossed $15 million on preview night.
That’s the biggest start of the year for a live-action film, with it outgrossing Michael, which did $12.6 million. It’s also notably bigger than the preview-night gross for Nolan’s last film, Oppenheimer, which started with $10.5 million on its way to an $82 million opening. As far as Nolan movies go, it only trails The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight, which opened with $30.6 million and $18.5 million, respectively.
So how high could it go?
It looks like my prediction that it hits at least $90 million was probably too modest, although it’s too early to tell. The preview-night gross is on par with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which ended up making $181 million, but no one thinks The Odyssey is going to go quite that big due to the running time and the fact that it’s targeting an older audience with its R rating. Yet, with Nolan’s movies usually having strong legs at the box office, The Odyssey may well end up outgrossing Oppenheimer, which ended its domestic run with $330 million and had a worldwide gross of $975 million. The Odyssey cost $250 million and, with marketing, probably needs to cross about $700 million worldwide to be profitable, but that gross seems well within reach.
What did you think?
Of course, with The Odyssey having been subject to so much scrutiny before it even opened, we want to know what you all think of Nolan’s latest. I was a fan and will be posting an updated version of my Christopher Nolan Movies Ranked article tomorrow, but what did you think? Take the poll and let us know!