Matt Damon's Odysseus just pulled off what Nolan previously needed a Batman movie to do. Shot almost entirely on IMAX film cameras and clocking in at nearly three hours, "The Odyssey" officially crossed $1 billion USD in global box office in its third week of release — becoming only the 65th film in history to hit that milestone.
The number hits differently when you consider the timeline. The last time a Nolan film broke $1 billion was 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises." That's a 13-year gap, one that included "Oppenheimer" — a film many assumed was a lock to break the barrier during the peak of 2023's "Barbenheimer" frenzy, but ultimately landed just short at around $975 million. "The Odyssey" now stands as only the second billion-dollar film of his career, and the momentum hasn't slowed down.
What's really turning heads is that the film is closing in on "The Dark Knight Rises"' $1.085 billion record, putting it on track to become the highest-grossing film of Nolan's entire filmography. In other words, an R-rated adaptation of Homer's epic poem — with no villain, no superhero — is on pace to outgross a franchise film built on the back of Batman IP. The current global split sits at $429.7 million domestic and $570.3 million international, with overseas markets contributing more than half the total. This isn't a regional phenomenon — it's a global one.
The film's R rating also places it in rare company: it's only the third R-rated film ever to cross $1 billion, joining "Joker" and "Deadpool & Wolverine" — and it's the first to do so without leaning on a comic book character. That fact says more about the film's pull than the box office number itself. Audiences aren't showing up for a familiar IP — they're showing up for Nolan and for the IMAX format itself.
On the production side, "The Odyssey" is the first narrative feature ever shot entirely on IMAX film cameras, which explains why IMAX screenings have stayed in relentless demand. The technical format has become part of the box office story itself, not just a behind-the-scenes footnote.
Stack "The Odyssey" against "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," and the two films have combined for roughly $2.1 billion — closing in on the $2.4 billion combined haul of 2023's "Barbenheimer" summer. That momentum has already pushed Universal past $4 billion USD in global grosses for the year. With "The Odyssey" still rolling out internationally — landing in China on August 14 following its Korea release, and hitting Japan on September 11 — expect that number to keep climbing.
