Ryan Reynolds is officially handing over the R-rated crown, praising The Odyssey for dethroning his own Deadpool & Wolverine as the biggest R-rated movie of all time. The actor made the comments while promoting his new Apple film Mayday at its New York premiere. Hollywood is riding an unexpected box office wave this summer, and Reynolds seems more thrilled than threatened by the shift. His reaction reflects genuine admiration for what Christopher Nolan just achieved.

While the numbers tell one story, Reynolds' words at the Mayday premiere reveal something far more personal about the shift in Hollywood's biggest stage.

The Deadpool star did not hide his admiration for The Odyssey's stacked cast and Christopher Nolan's rare filmmaking instincts. He called Nolan a singular filmmaker who breathes the rarest air on Earth.

"I mean, Matt Damon, Tom Holland, who's clearly batting a thousand stars with Zendaya," Reynolds said to Variety, praising the ensemble by name.

He then added, "I just love that people are going to the movie theaters," stressing that packed cinemas matter more than personal box office bragging rights.

Variety noted that Mayday marks the first major on-screen role for Reynolds since Deadpool & Wolverine premiered more than two years ago. He plays a Navy pilot stranded behind enemy lines, forming an unlikely bond with an eccentric KGB agent played by Kenneth Branagh. Reynolds used the interview to push back on rosy nostalgia surrounding the 1980s, arguing that pop culture often erases the era's real tension and hardship.

Ryan Reynolds Plays Distressed Navy Pilot Stranded in Russia in Upcoming Thriller ‘Mayday’

As Reynolds reflects on nostalgia and the past, The Odyssey keeps rewriting box office history in real time.

The Odyssey has become only the third R-rated release to cross $1 billion, following Joker and Deadpool & Wolverine, before climbing past both entirely. It also surpassed The Dark Knight Rises to become the highest-grossing film of Christopher Nolan's career and his first non-Batman project to reach ten figures. Global earnings now sit near $1.555 billion, split across domestic and international markets, with Japan still contributing fresh numbers.

Beyond domestic milestones, The Odyssey overtook Avatar to become the highest-grossing IMAX release ever, aided by its distinction as the first feature filmed entirely on IMAX cameras. Its opening weekend also became the biggest global debut of Nolan's career, edging past The Dark Knight Rises by a slim margin. With Ryan Reynolds cheering from the sidelines, the numbers only confirm what he already sensed: cinema still has room for giants.

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