Universal Pictures
'The Odyssey' is set to open on over 800 IMAX screens in China
While The Odyssey was already well on its way to becoming a massive success by any meaningful metric, it now has the chance to become one of the biggest movies ever made. Not only has the film yet to open in China, but when it does, it will do so on nearly 800 IMAX screens.
According to reports, IMAX China plans to dedicate most of its nearly 800 screens to Christopher Nolan’s epic film when it opens in mainland China on August 14, nearly a month after its premiere in the United States.
To mark the historic occasion, Nolan and star Matt Damon are scheduled to attend a red-carpet event at the China National Film Museum in Beijing on July 30 — the first-ever commercial film red-carpet at the government-run museum.
The Odyssey has a path to become one of the highest-grossing movies of all time due to IMAX in China
As of this writing — ten days after its release on July 17 — The Odyssey has $652 million worldwide and is well on its way to crossing the billion-dollar mark. If Elon Musk and the rest of the “go woke, go broke” obsessives had placed a bet on the film’s prospects, they would have lost. Big time.
The Odyssey opened to $264 million globally in its debut weekend and has continued performing at an elite level domestically — in its second weekend at the box office, it made $90 million, which is just a 27% drop from its opening weekend, which is a record-low second-weekend drop for any film that opened with $100M+ in box office history.
It’s also on its way to becoming the highest-grossing film of Christopher Nolan’s career if it tops the $1.1 billion made by The Dark Knight Rises. Another record within record for the film is the largest R-rated release in history, which would require passing the $1.33 billion made by Deadpool & Wolverine in 2024.
The Odyssey‘s much-talked-about large-scale format — the film was shot entirely in IMAX 70mm, making it the first film ever to do so — gives it a premium large-format advantage that no other film in history has had in quite the same way, a factor likely playing into IMAX China’s unprecedented and massive screen commitment.
“I’m expecting a very large majority of our entire network, if not all of our network, that first week will be playing The Odyssey,” IMAX China CEO Daniel Manwaring told Variety. “We haven’t seen enthusiasm for a film like this in quite some time.”
“Nolan’s massive popularity in China has been building over time, and he’s become ‘bigger than any movie star’ in the country, according to Manwaring. ‘Nolan is so big in China, and his following is not just enormous but extremely sticky. These are fans that are lifelong… diehard.'”
All told, this now puts The Odyssey in the conversation to reach $2 billion at the box office, which is a feat that has only been achieved by seven films before (in order of their box office totals): Avatar, Avengers: Endgame, Avatar: The Way of Water, Titanic, Ne Zha 2 (a Chinese production), Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avengers: Infinity War.
For The Odyssey to crack the top ten highest-grossing films ever made, the target is $1.698 billion, which was set by Inside Out 2 last year. The other films in the top ten that have not crossed $2 billion are Spider-Man: No Way Home (its sequel, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, may also be in this conversation after it hits theaters this weekend) and Zootopia 2.
Here are some numbers for comparison. Nolan’s last film, the Best Picture-winning Oppenheimer, took in $9 million in China in its first five days and closed with nearly $20 million in total. Nolan’s biggest-ever hit in China is 2014’s modern-classic sci-fi Interstellar with $139 million.
Given the more global, historic, and action-packed nature of The Odyssey, the film should surpass Oppenheimer‘s totals in China. It also has yet to open in South Korea (August 5) and Japan (September 11). It will also likely be rereleased in IMAX in the winter, most likely ahead of its award season push in early 2027.
The post-COVID Hollywood box office record in China belongs to Avatar: The Way of Water at approximately $246 million — a number that reflects both the franchise’s massive Chinese fanbase and the premium large-format advantage that IMAX screens provide.
The next closest is F9 at $215 million, followed by Godzilla vs. Kong at $188 million. Based on the tenor of Manwaring’s comments, it sounds like he expects The Odyssey to be in that neighborhood.
The Odyssey‘s box office dominance will undoubtedly be dented this weekend, however, as Spider-Man: Brand New Day is tracking to earn a whopping $800M+ in its worldwide opening weekend, which would make it the second-biggest opening ever behind only Avengers: Endgame‘s $1.2 billion.