Story perspectives

Nolan’s “Odyssey” Nets $17.6 M Preview, Targets $100 M Opening

7/17/2026

Summary

Story summary

Director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” earned $17.6 million in Thursday previews, the year’s highest with a $15-$17.6 million tracker range.
Universal projects a $90-$100 million opening weekend, Nolan’s biggest debut since 2012, with $250 million production and $125 million marketing costs that make profitability reliant on box-office returns.
Only 25 U.S. theaters show 70 mm IMAX, none in Kentucky—the nearest is Indianapolis—while IMAX made about 30 % of Thursday’s gross and premium large formats contributed roughly 60 %.

History

Historical Context

When James Cameron released Avatar in December 2009, its $237 million budget and a record-setting IMAX rollout—178 U.S. IMAX theaters generating $9.5 million opening-weekend revenue—showed studios could offset huge costs with premium formats. Christopher Nolan’s latest high-budget film follows that model, using limited IMAX screens to capture a similar share of its $17.6 million preview.

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Story summary

Director Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” earned $17.6 million in Thursday previews, the year’s highest with a $15-$17.6 million tracker range.
Universal projects a $90-$100 million opening weekend, Nolan’s biggest debut since 2012, with $250 million production and $125 million marketing costs that make profitability reliant on box-office returns.
Only 25 U.S. theaters show 70 mm IMAX, none in Kentucky—the nearest is Indianapolis—while IMAX made about 30 % of Thursday’s gross and premium large formats contributed roughly 60 %.

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