Director Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is shaping up to become the biggest triumph of an already triumphant career. This would be an impressive accomplishment. Especially in the immediate aftermath of winning Best Picture, Best Director, and almost a billion dollars in box office dollars for 2023’s Oppenheimer.
While the numbers could change, as of right now, The Odyssey is earning Nolan his highest scores (96 percent fresh) from Rotten Tomato critics. Further, this could be Nolan’s biggest opening weekend outside of his Dark Knight trilogy.
Oppenheimer collected $82 million domestic in its debut. The Odyssey is projected to edge close to $100 million this weekend. That would make it the third biggest opening for Nolan behind 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises ($161 million) and 2008’s The Dark Knight ($158 million).
Right now, it looks as though The Odyssey could overperform projections. Its $17.5 million Thursday night preview haul is the best of the year so far, just a little ahead of Toy Story 5’s $17.4 million, and Toy Story 5 went on to a $160 million opening.
Of course, The Odyssey’s three-hour runtime decreases the number of daily screenings.
The only question now is whether or not The Odyssey is front-loaded with Nolan fans. We’ll know a lot more on Monday and have our final answer next week.
One thing we do know is that the audience score for The Odyssey sits at an incredible 97 percent approval, with over 1,000 verified ratings. That kind of word-of-mouth, if sustained, usually results in a massive final box office number.
Either way, it always struck me as foolish to bet against a filmmaker who is his own brand, and whose previous movie earned blockbuster box office returns even though it’s a three-hour biopic filmed in black and white about a guy few people had heard of.
As far as the casting controversies, I haven’t said anything because I see Christopher Nolan as a one-of-a-kind artist, so he gets the benefit of my doubt. I don’t know when I’ll get a chance to see The Odyssey. Until then, though, I’m withholding judgment.
Still, the complaints over “woke” casting are perfectly valid. People are sick and tired of “woke” and DEI, and anything that smacks of racial pandering at the expense of white and non-queer people. We’re all tired of it. So, I’m not criticizing those who voiced their concerns over this. Personally, though, the guy who made The Dark Knight has earned a wait-and-see-for-myself approach.