The Odyssey Sails Past $1.72B, Becomes Universal's Highest-Grossing Film Ever

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has officially sailed into uncharted waters. The epic has reached approximately $1.72 billion worldwide, making it the first Universal film ever to cross $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office — and, according to reports from September 21, it also crossed $1.1 billion internationally, setting studio records on both fronts.

The milestone that made headlines first: Deadline reported the film's $1.684 billion total passed 2015's Jurassic World ($1.677 billion), officially making The Odyssey Universal's biggest movie ever. In a single stroke, Nolan's mythological epic dethroned a dinosaur.

A Record-Breaking Voyage

The records keep piling up. It's the second-highest-grossing film of 2026 and Nolan's highest-grossing movie to date, surpassing The Dark Knight Rises — a feat few would have predicted for a three-hour R-rated epic about ancient Greece. It also surpassed Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, and it passed Disney's Inside Out 2 ($1.46 billion), previously Hollywood's top animated film.

The IMAX story deserves its own paragraph. The film is the first feature shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, and the premium format has been a juggernaut: IMAX alone generated $140 million globally within the first 10 days. Nolan's bet on the biggest screen possible paid off in spectacular fashion.

The Numbers Behind the Epic

It opened July 17 with $123.5 million domestic — the biggest Universal R-rated opening ever — on a reported $250 million budget, and it earned an A CinemaScore from audiences. Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, leading a cast that includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron.

That an R-rated, auteur-driven epic could become a studio's all-time biggest hit is the kind of outcome that reshapes industry assumptions. The Odyssey didn't just break records — it broke the mold. And at $1.72 billion and climbing, the voyage isn't over yet.

What This Changes

Step back from the numbers for a moment and consider what just happened to the industry's assumptions. An R-rated, three-hour, auteur-driven adaptation of ancient Greek epic poetry just became the biggest film in the history of Universal Pictures — ahead of dinosaurs, fast cars, and every franchise the studio has ever fielded. It passed Jurassic World's $1.677 billion, a record that stood for over a decade, and it did so without the safety net of a PG-13 rating or a pre-existing cinematic universe. The IMAX story is equally instructive: $140 million from the format alone in the first 10 days validates Nolan's all-in bet on shooting entirely with IMAX film cameras, and it gives every studio executive a new data point about what premium formats can deliver when the filmmaker commits fully. That it also became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever, dethroning Deadpool & Wolverine, and Nolan's biggest film ahead of The Dark Knight Rises, completes a trifecta that will be cited in greenlight meetings for years. An A CinemaScore and a $123.5 million domestic opening — the biggest R-rated opening in Universal history — prove audiences didn't just tolerate the ambition; they rewarded it. The industry spent years insisting this kind of movie couldn't do these numbers. The Odyssey just proved it can.