For a second consecutive weekend, “The Odyssey” topped the box office, demonstrating the rare staying power that allows a film to draw large audiences over multiple weekends.
Over the weekend, “The Odyssey” grossed $87 million at the domestic box office, a stellar hold after its massive $123 million opening. The film has now earned more than $639 million worldwide — putting it on track to surpass the $1 billion mark and further fueling this summer’s box office comeback.
If “The Odyssey” does cross the $1 billion threshold, it will become the fourth film this year to gross $1 billion worldwide, following “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” “Michael” and “Toy Story 5,” which reached the milestone over the weekend and now ranks as the year’s highest-grossing film.
If “The Odyssey” continues its strong hold, it is likely to join the $1 billion club. Two of “The Odyssey” director Christopher Nolan’s films have crossed that threshold: “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises.” Several others, including “Oppenheimer,” “Inception” and “Interstellar,” have come close.
Nolan’s films have a tendency to draw casual moviegoers to theaters while bringing mega-fans back for repeat viewings.
“It’s likely to be one of the two films that casual fans see on average this year,” box-office analyst David Gross said in his newsletter FranchiseRe. “There are a lot of these casual moviegoers — they are the majority of ticket-buyers — and when they get interested, they can elevate a movie from a hit to a smash.”
“The film has become an event, and it’s going to have a very long run now,” Gross added, referencing the frenzy among moviegoers to snag one of the limited IMAX screenings, as “The Odyssey” is the first Hollywood blockbuster ever shot entirely on IMAX film cameras.
IMAX screenings have contributed a whopping $140 million to the film’s global box office haul so far. The film is also the second-fastest in IMAX history to surpass $100 million in ticket sales, trailing only the box office titan “Avengers: Endgame.”
“Chris (Nolan) has crafted the type of masterwork that draws our biggest fans back to experience it two or three times — while introducing entirely new fans to IMAX,” IMAX’s CEO Richard Gelfond told Variety. “We are only beginning to see the impact that will have on our brand and business.”
A glimpse at the box office comeback
Hollywood and movie theaters alike are enjoying their strongest summer in seven years, putting the industry on track to generate $10 billion in ticket sales for the first time since the pandemic.
Fueling the box office resurgence has been a combination of reliable blockbuster franchises, such as Pixar’s “Toy Story 5″ and Universal’s “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” — the year’s top earners so far — as well as a handful of low budget breakout hits, like “Obsession” and “Backrooms,” which drew an unusually strong turnout among young audiences.
“Project Hail Mary” jolted the box office awake in March, followed by a mega-opening from “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and then “Michael,” the sweeping biopic chronicling Michael Jackson’s early life, which earned over $1 billion worldwide and secured the title as highest-grossing biopic of all time.
Despite a pair of box office disappointments — “Supergirl” and “Moana” both underperformed — the summer’s momentum has been sustained by a range of hits, including “The Odyssey,” “Toy Story 5,″ “Disclosure Day” and “Minions & Monsters.”
“What we needed to happen has finally happened,” Michael Kustermann, CEO of the popular dine-in cinema chain Alamo Drafthouse, told Variety. “There’s not just a good pipeline of content, but a diverse balance within the slate. That’s what we’ve been missing.”
That momentum shows no signs of slowing down. Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which premieres this weekend, is projected to earn anywhere from $180 million to $190 million domestically in its opening weekend.
“‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ could be the biggest opening weekend of the year,” Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at movie data company Rentrak, told CNBC.
He continued, “And that opens on July 31st. What’s that going to mean for August? Well, a lot, because that’s going to add and contribute a lot of box office to the month. Then that sets up a fall and a holiday period (where) I think we’re not going to see really that much of a slowdown.”
After several strong performances this summer, the box office’s resurgence is expected to carry through the year, with several major releases still on the horizon.
A slate of blockbusters landing this fall and early winter — including “Practical Magic 2,” “Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,” “Avengers: Doomsday” and “Dune 3″— is poised to keep audiences returning to theaters in the months ahead.
“The summer box office is incredibly important,” Dergarabedian said. “It’s vitally important in terms of what the overall health of the industry looks like and what that portends for the entire year.”