'The Odyssey' brings in $264.1mn in worldwide ticket sales, studio says

The film cost $250 million to make and has earned an A CinemaScore from opening-night audiences

Emma Thomas, Tom Holland, Matt Damon and Christopher Nolan pose on the red carpet during the Mumbai premiere of The Odyssey, in Mumbai, India, Jul 11, 2026. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas

Director Christopher Nolan's adaptation of "The Odyssey" grossed $264.1 million in global ticket sales, including $124.5 million in the US and Canada, Universal Pictures said on Sunday.

The film, based on the ancient Greek poem by Homer, stars Matt Damon as the Greek hero Odysseus, and follows his perilous journey home after fighting the Trojan War.

It is Nolan's first movie since the 2023 blockbuster "Oppenheimer," which won Academy Awards in several categories, including directing and best picture.

"The Odyssey" cost $250 million to make.

It received an A CinemaScore from filmgoers who attended opening-night screenings, and an audience rating of 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film represents Nolan's biggest global opening of all time, without factoring in inflation, and his third-highest-grossing in the US and Canada, behind "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises."

Fans began snapping up "Odyssey" tickets a year ago when seats at select IMAX theatres were ⁠put on sale.

IMAX said demand for tickets was so high, more than 50 theatres across North America added show times between midnight and 7am.

Most scholars believe the epic poem attributed to Homer was composed in the seventh or eighth century BC and was sung before that in oral tradition.

Nolan's film centres on a portion of Odysseus's home-coming, where he encounters gods and monsters, storms and tragedy.