Nolan's 'The Odyssey' Tracks $200M+ Global Opening
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- The Odyssey is tracking $85M-$100M domestic and $110M overseas across 73 territories and 22,700 screens for a global start bound to clear $200M
- Universal is deploying the same market footprint as Oppenheimer (which debuted to $181.1M global on 17,500 offshore screens), with Italy and Greece now going day-and-date after late-August releases last time, while Korea, Japan and China open later
- Non-Universal sources peg advance ticket sales at $30M-$40M and call them "very robust" — below the $60M+ for Wicked: For Good and $50M for Deadpool & Wolverine, with the question being how much of that total sits inside the opening weekend
- The three-hour R-rated film begins U.S. previews at 2 p.m. Thursday, the review embargo lifts Wednesday, and early press screenings have already sparked awards-season buzz despite no Rotten Tomatoes audience score yet
- Tom Holland and Zendaya co-star in the film without sharing scenes, and headline Sony/Marvel's Spider-Man: Brand New Day on July 31 — a back-to-back, one-month release run for the married couple that the trade pegs as a first
- UK exhibitors are watching the England-Argentina World Cup semifinal Wednesday for any drag on Nolan's historically strong UK market, while four IMAX 70mm sites in Europe — including BFI IMAX London — sold out a full year in advance
- Nolan, Matt Damon and Holland recently promoted the film in Mumbai, with stops also in London and Paris, and the NYC U.S. premiere set for tonight ahead of the Wednesday embargo lift
Why it matters: Universal is staging the three-hour epic into the same uncluttered conditions that helped Nolan's Oppenheimer win Best Picture — no major studio wide release in weekend 2 and a near-identical international footprint — with $30M-$40M already presold and Nolan's stronghold markets (UK, France, Italy) carrying the heaviest expectation. A $200M+ global start would eclipse Oppenheimer's $181.1M debut and validate the IMAX-first pitch.
