The initial skepticism around Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey was almost fitting for a film built from one of humanity’s oldest stories. There was a sense that Nolan’s fondness for fractured timelines and narrative puzzles might turn Homer’s journey into something overly cerebral. Yet the experiment has landed with remarkably little distortion, and instead of confusing moviegoers, Nolan has turned a nearly 3,000-year-old poem into one of the decade’s biggest theatrical events. 

And whatever doubts existed before release have been drowned out by the sound of packed auditoriums, sold-out premium screenings and an audience that keeps returning for another voyage.

More than 50 days into its theatrical run, The Odyssey is on course to become the first movie ever to generate $500 million from IMAX screenings alone. That is not merely another impressive statistic attached to Nolan’s increasingly absurd box-office résumé. The film had already become the highest-grossing IMAX release ever, passing Avatar, after reaching $289 million in the format less than a month after release. By early September, its IMAX total had climbed to roughly $457 million, leaving that $500 million threshold tantalizingly close. 

DiscussingFilm has been tracking the film’s extraordinary theatrical trajectory on X, and the numbers tell their own epic. The Odyssey opened with $264.1 million worldwide, Nolan’s biggest global opening, before crossing $1 billion in barely three weeks. It then became his highest-grossing movie ever and has now passed $1.6 billion worldwide, sitting within striking distance of Jurassic World and Universal’s all-time global record. 

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That kind of longevity is where the story becomes particularly interesting.

The answer is a moving target because the film keeps adding another record to the voyage. It opened with Chris Nolan’s biggest worldwide debut, delivered Universal’s biggest opening for an R-rated movie, became the fastest film to pass $200 million in IMAX, and helped give IMAX its biggest July ever. Then came the bigger milestones. 

The Odyssey overtook The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises to become Nolan’s highest-grossing film, passed Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, and established itself as the biggest IMAX movie in history. It is now also approaching Jurassic World's $1.67 billion haul to potentially become Universal’s highest-grossing film ever. 

For a filmmaker who grew up on the giant-screen wonder of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, the irony is telling. Nolan took one of the oldest stories ever told and made audiences rediscover the oldest cinematic trick of all, go to the theater and see something impossible happen on a screen too large to ignore.

‘The Odyssey’ Becomes Christopher Nolan’s Highest-Grossing Film Ever With $1.1 Billion Worldwide

What do you think has been the biggest achievement of Nolan’s The Odyssey so far? Share your take in the comments.