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Nolan’s “The Odyssey” Opens $124.5 M, Beats Oppenheimer

7/20/2026

Summary

Nolan Breaks Opening

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” opened in America with a $124.5 million debut, the biggest non-sequel Nolan opening.
The $124.5 million debut beat Nolan’s $82.5 million “Oppenheimer” record, outperformed “Star Wars,” “Minions,” and DC releases, placing second for the summer behind “Toy Story 5.”
It ranked third opening of year after “Toy Story” and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” tickets sold out following a July 2025 sale for IMAX 70mm showings and analysts expecting 2027 awards contention.

Summary

Batman Trilogy Review

The Dark Knight Rises opened July 17 2012, runs 165 minutes, directed by Christopher Nolan.
Batman Begins debuted June 15 2005, runs 140 minutes, introducing Christian Bale’s grounded Batman.
Both movies star Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, anchoring Nolan’s trilogy.
Reviews call The Dark Knight Rises overstuffed yet visually impressive, and Batman Begins gritty despite spastic fights.
The Dark Knight Rises streams on Hulu and Paramount+, while Batman Begins is on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

History

Historical Context

In July 2008 Christopher Nolan’s *The Dark Knight* opened on 4,366 U.S. and Canadian screens, earning roughly $1 billion worldwide and setting IMAX records with $6.3 million on opening day. Its gritty tone and premium-format success reshaped studio strategies, prompting Warner Bros. to pair future blockbusters—such as Nolan’s planned 2025 film *The Odyssey*—with IMAX releases and franchise formulas.

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Nolan Breaks Opening

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” opened in America with a $124.5 million debut, the biggest non-sequel Nolan opening.
The $124.5 million debut beat Nolan’s $82.5 million “Oppenheimer” record, outperformed “Star Wars,” “Minions,” and DC releases, placing second for the summer behind “Toy Story 5.”
It ranked third opening of year after “Toy Story” and “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” tickets sold out following a July 2025 sale for IMAX 70mm showings and analysts expecting 2027 awards contention.

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