The Odyssey’s $1 Billion Box Office Makes History Three Times Over

The Odyssey has hit an epic box office milestone.

The new Christopher Nolan movie is an adaptation of the Homer poem of the same name, following the trials and tribulation of Odysseus’ (Matt Damon) journey home after the Trojan War. The star-studded movie, which also features Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, John Leguizamo, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, and more, was an instant record-breaker when it debuted on July 17. 2026’s The Odyssey broke multiple records at once during its opening weekend, including earning the biggest-ever domestic debut for Matt Damon and the biggest for non-Batman Nolan movie.

Per Variety, The Odyssey has now reached a cumulative global box office total of $1.008 billion at the tail end of its third full week in theaters, comprising $429.65 million at the domestic marketplace and an additional $578.8 million from international theaters. This makes it the fifth 2026 movie to pass the billion-dollar milestone, after The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the Michael Jackson biopic Michael, Toy Story 5, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (which was the second-fastest movie in history to make $1 billion, after Avengers: Endgame).

In passing this milestone, the movie has made history in two different ways. First off, it has become only the third R-rated movie to gross more than $1 billion (not adjusted for inflation), after 2019’s Joker ($1.079 billion) and 2023’s Deadpool & Wolverine ($1.338 billion) – and therefore also the first R-rated movie not based on comic book characters to make $1 billion.

Second, The Odyssey has become the first non-Batman Christopher Nolan movie to earn $1 billion (not adjusted for inflation). While his hit 2023 biopic Oppenheimer got close when it was propelled by the Barbenheimer phenomenon to a whopping $975.8 million, the only movies that he has directed that have passed the billion-dollar milestone are 2008’s The Dark Knight ($1.008 billion) and 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises ($1.085 billion).

The Odyssey has now become one of the few crown jewels of a summer that has turned out to be full of dangerously lukewarm tentpole movies. While Spider-Man: Brand New Day (which debuted two weekends after the Nolan movie) is already a billion-dollar smash and Toy Story 5 also became a billion-dollar hit after debuting in June, the season has otherwise been dotted with underperforming titles or outright flops, including Masters of the Universe, Moana, The Death of Robin Hood, and Supergirl.

This is great news for the Nolan movie, as the enormous reported budget of The Odyssey is $250 million. Because theaters keep half of ticket sales and marketing costs are not factored into production budgets, movies often need to earn back two and a half times their price tags in theaters, this could place the movie’s estimated break-even point as high as $625 million. While fewer than 10 2026 movies have passed that benchmark, The Odyssey is obviously one of them, having passed that number and then some.

Additionally, the fact that The Odyssey is the fifth billion-dollar movie of 2026 could be a promising sign for the year as a whole, in spite of a disappointing summer blockbuster season. In fact, it has now officially made 2026 the year with the most billion-dollar hits this decade, beating 2025, which had four (Ne Zha 2, Zootopia 2, Avatar: Fire and Ash, and Lilo & Stitch). Additionally, it could have more on the way.

After all, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has another promising installment set to debut this year. That would be the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, which is the first Avengers movie since Endgame (which grossed $2.799 billion in 2019, becoming the second highest-grossing movie of all time). If that title joins The Odyssey past the billion-dollar milestone, 2026 will mark itself as one of the most vibrant years for the box office since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Release Date

July 15, 2026

Runtime

173 minutes