Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey crosses $1 billion internationally

MUMBAI: Odyssey has certainly found its way home and then some. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has sailed past the $1 billion mark in international markets, taking its worldwide haul to a staggering $1.59 billion and turning the ancient Greek epic into the filmmaker’s biggest commercial success yet.

The milestone also puts The Odyssey in an exclusive club. It is only the 17th film ever to cross $1 billion internationally, with international box office referring to markets outside North America. More significantly, it is the first standalone film that is neither a sequel nor a remake to achieve the feat since James Cameron’s Avatar in 2009.

That puts Nolan’s epic in rather blockbuster company, alongside films such as Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. And with The Odyssey still having nearly four weeks left in theatres, its journey may not be over just yet.

Universal Pictures International president of distribution Veronika Kwan Vandenberg credited the film’s theatrical run with driving the historic milestone, while praising Nolan, Emma Thomas and their production company Syncopy for delivering the film as a large-scale theatrical experience.

The film has already picked up another major box-office crown. In late August, The Odyssey overtook Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.

Ryan Reynolds, whose Deadpool & Wolverine previously held the record, took the loss in suitably Deadpool fashion. He congratulated Nolan with a comic video mash-up combining footage from Deadpool and Wolverine’s Honda Odyssey fight with scenes of Odysseus and his crew navigating their own monstrous misadventures.

Reynolds has also been enthusiastic about the film’s ability to pull audiences back into cinemas, calling Nolan a singular filmmaker and saying he simply loved seeing people return to theatres for the shared experience.

And there is still a particularly large-screen reason to make the trip. The film’s 70mm IMAX screenings have been extended through September 30, marking the second extension of the format’s run. The extension comes down to the scarcity of 70mm IMAX screens worldwide, giving audiences more time to experience Nolan’s epic in the format he designed it for.

The Odyssey has been one of the defining theatrical successes of the summer, sharing the spotlight with Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The latter has also been rewriting the record books, becoming the highest-grossing domestic film in history, the most profitable Spider-Man film and the first Spider-Man movie to cross $2 billion at the global box office.

For The Odyssey, however, the voyage is still underway. With the film already at $1.59 billion worldwide, an international haul above $1 billion and its 70mm IMAX run now stretching to the end of September, Nolan’s biggest gamble on an ancient epic has turned into a very modern box-office odyssey.