Odyssey by Christopher Nolan is shaping up to be a box-office juggernaut, but beware of crowning it the box-office king before it hits theaters.
In the first half of 2026, Universal has already chalked up two enormous box-office wins: Super Mario Galaxy has surpassed the $1 billion mark (and is still playing in theaters) and Michael has raked in about $900 million worldwide. In truth, it’s simple: they’re the two biggest worldwide box-office successes so far, well ahead of Last-Chance Project in third place with $679 million earned (for Amazon MGM).
And this summer, the studio is poised to keep the top of the charts, releasing three big films: Disclosure Day by Steven Spielberg (June 10), The Minions and the Monsters (from June 24), and most notably Odyssey by Christopher Nolan on July 15 in France. In fact, if the hits are as strong as the Michael biopic and Mario’s adventures, Universal could have one of the best years in its history in 2026. It’s already off to a strong start with Nolan’s epic, as it’s performing well even before its release.
The Nolan Storm
On June 4, Universal officially opened ticket sales for Odyssey for IMAX 70mm and PLF (Premium Large Format) screenings, that is, IMAX, Dolby, 4DX, Screen X, or simply premium-format theaters. The turnout has been remarkable. According to Deadline, Odyssey is the film that generated the most pre-sales (on its first day of sale) in the AMC theater chain since… 2022.
A feat all the more impressive as it marks the biggest pre-sale tally since 2022… across all cinema-ticket sales — and thus not counting a Taylor Swift Eras Tour-style concert run. Put plainly: Odyssey has “pre-sold” more tickets through its PLF-only pre-sales than films that also pre-sold their standard screenings.
To get a sense of scale, that would amount to roughly 150,000 tickets sold, whereas Oppenheimer (which was a huge hit in theaters in 2023) sold “only” 65,000 seats. AMC also noted that the on-sale caused several site crashes and long lines (sometimes over an hour). The hype around the retelling of Ullysses’ famous journey (here portrayed by Matt Damon) remains undeniable.
That said, while AMC’s servers overheated, it’s noteworthy that the two other major U.S. cinema chains (Regal and Cinemark) reported no specific site issues. Should the enthusiasm be taken with a grain of salt? It’s hard to say, especially since, as a reminder, the pre-sale only covered PLF screenings, i.e., screenings favored by cinephiles but not necessarily by the general public, who make up the overwhelming majority.
To gain a more precise perspective on Odyssey’s success, we’ll likely need to see all screenings go on sale. At this stage, experts are indeed divided on the movie’s potential US debut, with estimates ranging from $65 million to $100 million for its opening weekend. For comparison, Oppenheimer pulled in $82.4 million during its domestic opening weekend.
At the end of its run, Oppenheimer had racked up $975 million worldwide (including $330 million in North American box office). Before Odyssey’s release, it stood as the third-best box-office tally of Christopher Nolan’s career worldwide behind The Dark Knight Rises ($1.114 billion) and The Dark Knight ($1.029 billion). Those kinds of scores are exactly what Universal hopes to match with Odyssey to recoup its massive budget, which would be around $250 million.
All told, even if PLF pre-sales were strong (continuing the early July 2025 IMAX 70mm sales), the road remains long for Odyssey to become another blockbuster for Nolan. The verdict will come on July 15 in French theaters and July 17 in the United States.
