Hollywood spent two decades de-risking itself by betting on intellectual property rather than people. The franchise became the attraction, eclipsing the directors and movie stars who once drew audiences to theaters. The stars became Harry Potter, Optimus Prime, Iron Man and Elsa.
Christopher Nolan has been a rare exception, and the No. 1 opening for “The Odyssey” over the weekend — turning Homer’s 3,000-year-old poem into an instant blockbuster — underscored the extraordinary degree to which he himself has become the attraction.
“The Odyssey,” the first commercial feature filmed completely in IMAX, was on track to sell $124.5 million in tickets in the United States and Canada from Thursday through Sunday, according to Rentrak, a film data service. It will easily be the biggest domestic opening of the year for a live-action film. Among all 2026 movies, it will rank third, behind “Toy Story 5” ($160 million) and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($132 million).
A majority of ticket buyers cited Mr. Nolan as the primary reason they bought tickets, according to PostTrak, a film industry research service. The film’s ensemble cast ranked second. Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, John Leguizamo, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong’o, Elliot Page and Tom Holland have roles of varying sizes.
IMAX locations delivered about 24 percent of the opening total. AMC Entertainment, the world’s largest theater operator, scheduled 70-millimeter IMAX screenings at 2 a.m., 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. in some cities to meet demand. Almost all sold out.
“When we look out at our presales for the next five weeks, we’ve sold out shows in IMAX film in week five for a lot of theaters, so this thing is going to play,” said Rich Gelfond, IMAX’s chief executive.
“Nolan used IMAX technology in a way no one ever has to create something no one has ever seen,” Mr. Gelfond added, noting that the company designed a new camera specifically for the film.
Overseas, “The Odyssey” was expected to sell an additional $139.6 million in tickets, for a worldwide opening of about $264.1 million. The nearly three-hour epic was produced by Mr. Nolan and Emma Thomas, a husband-wife team who have produced many films together, and cost Universal Pictures an estimated $250 million to make. Marketing easily added $100 million to the price.
Reviews were sensational. Domestic ticket buyers gave the R-rated film an A grade in CinemaScore exit polls.
Mr. Nolan’s breakthrough at the box office came in 2005, when his superhero reboot “Batman Begins” collected $375.6 million, or about $658 million after adjusting for inflation. Two more fan-favorite Batman movies followed, along with a 2010 original science-fiction smash, “Inception,” which collected $1.3 billion in today’s dollars. Starting in 2014, Mr. Nolan began focusing exclusively on original titles, delivering runaway hits like “Interstellar,” “Dunkirk” and “Oppenheimer,” which won seven Oscars in 2024, including best picture and director.
In the process, Mr. Nolan accomplished an increasingly rare feat: He became one of the few filmmakers whose name itself functions as a commercial brand. While studios spent years teaching audiences to trust intellectual property, he taught them to trust him.
“Christopher Nolan is the only filmmaker working today who could take an ancient story like this, attract a cast as sprawling and accomplished as this, and make it a pop culture event,” said David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter on box office numbers.
