Box Office: Christopher Nolan Gets ‘Em Out in Force for Trojan Horse

On today’s episode of “Daily Variety” podcast, in our Box Office segment, Variety’s Rebecca Rubin breaks down the spectacular $264 million worldwide opening for Universal Pictures’ “The Odyssey.” It couldn’t have come at a better time for Imax, the large-format exhibitor that delivered more than 50% of the opening weekend receipts.

Anticipation for Nolan’s follow-up to 2023’s “Oppenheimer” was so strong that there was little doubt that the $250 million production would open big. But the final figures demonstrates just how solidly “The Odyssey” was able to mobilize audiences across the world.

“What’s most impressive is the fact that this movie had such a big opening weekend for an R-rated sword and sandal epic. Christopher Nolan is really the only director who could pull something like this off at the budget that he did and justify the spend from the studio,” Rubin says. “He has really solidified himself as a brand at the box office, and he’s one of the very, very rare directors today who can get people to go out to the movies just because he is putting out a new film. It doesn’t even matter what the genre is, what type of film it is. People just want to see whatever he is making next.”

Rubin notes that the opening weekend audience was about 55% men, and a big chunk of the crowd was on the younger side for this genre of film.

“People have been joking that it’s the quintessential dad movie,” Rubin says. “But what was pretty significant to me is that 50% of audiences were between the ages of 18 and 34, which means he really got the younger crowds in there. If this was in the hands of a different director, I think it could be a movie that skewed much older. Love Matt Damon — he is more of a Gen X star. A lot of the cast is millennials, and so they might not have gotten that younger crowd. But [Nolan] really did incentivize all audiences to go. That is the difference between having a decent opening weekend and a phenomenal opening weekend — he was able to get all ages. I think is going to really help the film in the coming weeks.”

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