UPDATE Aug. 23: Now the domestic crown too. The Odyssey has passed The Dark Knight‘s $534.9 million to become Nolan’s biggest movie ever in North America, reaching $539.1 million after a $19.5 million sixth weekend, with the worldwide total at $1.446 billion.
UPDATE Aug. 19: The one record it did not have is gone too. The Odyssey has passed Deadpool & Wolverine as the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, and Ryan Reynolds handed the crown over himself on X and Instagram.
“Days away” lasted exactly two.
Universal made it official Sunday, per Deadline: The Odyssey is now Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing movie ever, standing at $1.1 billion worldwide after four weekends and past the $1.085 billion The Dark Knight Rises held as his best since 2012 (not counting inflation).
The split is $461.1 million domestic and $643.6 million overseas, and the run is nowhere near done. China opens Aug. 14, Japan follows Sept. 11, and Imax screens in major markets remain booked deep into the fall.
The record pushes Nolan’s filmography past $7 billion worldwide, and Universal now owns both his all-time best and his fourth-biggest, the seven-time Oscar winner Oppenheimer at $975.8 million.
Second-Biggest R-Rated Movie Ever
Deadline reports The Odyssey now ranks as the second-highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, both worldwide and domestic, behind only Deadpool & Wolverine at $1.33 billion. It holds the top R-rated spot for 2026 on both counts as well.
It’s also now the biggest movie of Matt Damon’s, Anne Hathaway’s and Robert Pattinson’s careers globally. Not bad for a cast the internet spent a year trying to bury under a 700,000-dislike pile-on.
Now The No. 2 Movie Of The Year
The milestone also moves The Odyssey past Toy Story 5 ($1.09 billion) into second place for 2026, behind only Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which is now closing on $2 billion and also stars Tom Holland.
Sony and Marvel’s sequel, which opened to $927 million globally, just became the second-fastest movie ever to cross $1 billion at the international box office, with Deadline’s global update putting its total at $1.67 billion.
Of the five movies to hit $1 billion this year, Universal claims three, counting The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($1.01 billion) and Lionsgate’s Michael ($1.016 billion), where the studio handled most of the overseas rollout.
Universal Takes The Victory Lap
Domestic distribution boss Jim Orr credited Nolan with earning audiences’ trust through must-see theatrical events, calling The Odyssey the director “operating at the peak of his powers” and pointing to premium formats and repeat viewings as the drivers.
International distribution chief Veronika Kwan Vandenberg framed it as a perfect match of filmmaker and material, saying only a director with Nolan’s worldwide following could take on Homer’s poem at this scale, with its sheer size and refusal to compromise landing with audiences everywhere.
The 14-year reign of The Dark Knight Rises is over, and with two major markets still unopened, the new number is a moving target. Friday’s billion-dollar milestone already looks quaint.
Follow the whole run in our complete Odyssey guide.
