The film "The Odyssey" has achieved spectacular success at the global box office, earning $264 million during its opening weekend, Universal Pictures announced.
Starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Zendaya, the film is an adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic, which follows Odysseus, King of Ithaca, on his perilous ten-year journey home after participating in the Trojan War.
The film premiered last Friday and has had an even better start than Nolan's 2023 hit "Oppenheimer," which ultimately grossed $975 million at the global box office.
Nolan's adaptation of the more than 2700-year-old Homer poem reportedly cost as much as $250 million to make. The director himself said he got the opportunity to make the film thanks to the financial and critical success of "Oppenheimer."
"The Odyssey" marks Nolan's highest-grossing opening of his career outside of the Batman franchise. His 2012 film "The Dark Knight Rises" earned $249 million in its global opening, or about $362 million when adjusted for inflation.
In North America alone, "The Odyssey" earned $124,5 million in its opening weekend, making it the third-biggest opening of the year, behind two family films: "Toy Story 5" ($159 million) and "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" ($131 million). That's an especially impressive result considering the film is rated R, which limits the audience that can see it.
Universal Pictures initially projected the film would gross about $100 million in North America in its opening weekend. Men made up 56 percent of the audience, while more than three-quarters of ticket buyers were over the age of 25. Half of the audience was between the ages of 18 and 34.
The United Kingdom and Ireland were the most successful international markets, earning $17,4 million during its first three days of release.
"The Odyssey" is the first feature-length film shot entirely with IMAX cameras - extremely large and noisy cameras that allow for a sharper, brighter image and significantly higher resolution.
The film was shown over the weekend in 73 international markets, in more than 12.800 locations and on approximately 26 theater screens worldwide, including 440 IMAX theaters.
Nolan recently said in an interview with the Today show that it will be at least three years before work begins on a new film, due to the demands of filming "The Odyssey."
"I really want a period where I have absolutely nothing to do. It seems like it's been a long time since I've had a vacation like that. The truth is that I get bored quickly and that's one of the reasons I always go back to work. I get restless. Right now I just want to finish everything about this film, release it in theaters and then take a little break," he told The Guardian.
The film "The Odyssey" has already received a number of extremely positive reviews, with many calling it Nolan's best film to date.
In addition to Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway and Zendaya, the film also stars Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton and Charlize Theron.
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