The film ‘The Odyssey’ maintained a strong grip on audiences in North American theaters during its second weekend, generating $87 million in ticket sales according to studio estimates on Sunday. This reflects only a 30% decrease from its first weekend, a remarkably modest drop for a blockbuster. Furthermore, this represents filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend ever, without adjusting for inflation. In 2008, Nolan’s film ‘The Dark Knight’ collected $75.2 million in its second weekend. Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak, remarked, “That would be an impressive opening weekend for any film. This reflects the excitement and enthusiasm that moviegoers have for Christopher Nolan’s latest epic.”
Internationally, ‘The Odyssey’ earned $128.3 million, bringing its estimated global revenue to $639.6 million. Dergarabedian noted that theaters worldwide are adding more showtimes to meet growing demand. A significant portion of the revenue comes from premium large format screens, with IMAX alone contributing $48 million to the global earnings this weekend. Out of 41 available 70 mm IMAX screens worldwide, these alone generated $5.2 million, with most showtimes sold out through September, according to the company.
This week, there was no significant new competition, similar to the previous weekend. Such earnings for a second weekend are rare for films that initially grossed over $100 million, particularly for R-rated movies, where it’s second only to ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’
Next weekend, audiences will encounter another blockbuster option with ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ featuring actors Tom Holland and Zendaya, who both starred in ‘The Odyssey.’ Some experts predict ‘Spider-Man’ might achieve the year’s largest opening weekend, but Nolan’s film will continue to dominate most IMAX screens for the coming weeks. Disney films ‘Moana’ and ‘Toy Story 5’ claimed second and third places, with $10.5 million and $10 million respectively. ‘Toy Story 5’ exceeded $1 billion globally in its fifth weekend, with $448 million from domestic showings and $573 million internationally, becoming the sixth Pixar movie to hit the milestone.
Bleecker Street’s ‘Hadestown: The Musical,’ a live stage recording of the Broadway hit, entered the top five, earning $9.7 million in its debut weekend. Additionally, Olivia Wilde’s chamber dramedy ‘The Invite’ showed continued success in its platform release, with an additional $2.6 million, raising its total to $19.8 million.
Overall, the year is running around 10% ahead of the previous year, with the summer box office surpassing $3 billion. Pre-pandemic figures for summer movie seasons often exceeded $4 billion. Only ‘Barbenheimer’ in 2023 achieved that figure since then. Dergarabedian believes it could be achievable this summer with ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’ He stated, “It’s a tough goal for August, but this could be a mega August given the staying power of ‘The Odyssey’ coupled with ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day. For ‘The Odyssey,’ it’s a marathon, not a sprint, with success continuing into August.”
Top 10 Movies by Domestic Box Office:
- ‘The Odyssey,’ $87 million.
- ‘Moana,’ $10.5 million.
- ‘Toy Story 5,’ $10 million.
- ‘Minions & Monsters,’ $9.7 million.
- ‘Hadestown,’ $9.6 million.
- ‘The Invite,’ $2.6 million.
- ‘Evil Dead Burn,’ $2.6 million.
- ‘Young Washington,’ $2 million.
- ‘Motor City,’ $1.6 million.
- ‘Obsession,’ $1.5 million.