Christopher Nolan’s film has taken $346.4 million on IMAX screens alone, 26% of its worldwide gross. It is his highest-grossing film and the first feature shot entirely on IMAX cameras.
Christopher Nolan made a movie for a format, and the format returned the favor.
The Odyssey has grossed roughly $1.298 billion worldwide, with $508.8 million domestic and $789.4 million international.
Of that, $346.4 million came from IMAX screens, which works out to 26 percent of the film’s global box office. IMAX says it is the highest-grossing release in the company’s history.
Why The Odyssey is an IMAX record
The film was built for those screens from the start.
The Odyssey is the first feature shot entirely with IMAX 70mm cameras, an ambition Nolan has described as his longest-held. Universal released it on July 17 after a London premiere on July 6.
IMAX dedicated its entire global footprint to the film for three weeks at launch. There are only 41 IMAX 70mm screens in the world, and showtimes in them sold out weeks ahead, with some theaters scheduling 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. screenings of a nearly three-hour film.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said the company came just shy of a fifth consecutive $50 million global weekend, noting that before 2026 IMAX had never posted more than one $50 million weekend in an entire year.
What the numbers mean for Nolan
The Odyssey is now his highest-grossing film.
His work has taken a combined $7 billion globally, with three films crossing a billion: this one, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.
The production budget is reported around $250 million, the most expensive of his career. Matt Damon plays Odysseus, with Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron.
It opened in China on August 14 and reaches Japan September 11, so the international figure is still moving.
The IMAX popcorn bucket sold out twice
Worth knowing for anyone tracking collectibles, because IMAX had never done this before.
The company released its first-ever collectible popcorn bucket to mark the film, modeled on its own 15/65mm camera.
The first two drops sold out almost immediately. Additional quantities went up at IMAX.com and at IMAX locations for a limited time.
A theater chain selling a bucket shaped like a camera, to promote a film shot on that camera, is the merchandising equivalent of the film’s whole argument.
What The Odyssey did for IMAX as a company
The business effect has been large enough to move the stock.
IMAX shares jumped more than 8 percent after the company reported it remained on track for a record $1.4 billion in global box office for 2026.
That guidance had been in doubt when Netflix moved Greta Gerwig‘s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew from November to February 2027. The Odyssey covered the gap.
The film runs on IMAX screens through at least mid-September, which in a year when premium formats have been the scarce resource means one more month of the most contested screens in the business.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
IMAX Corporation (August 17, 2026), the $346.4 million IMAX gross, the 26 percent share, Rich Gelfond’s comments, and the mid-September run confirmation
IMAX Corporation (July 2026), the first-ever collectible popcorn bucket and its sell-out
Variety (August 2026), the Nolan career totals, the billion-dollar film list, and the IMAX 70mm screen count
CNBC (July 23, 2026), the share price move, the $1.4 billion guidance, and the Narnia date change
Deadline (August 2026), the China and Japan release dates
Box Office Hype (August 19, 2026), the current worldwide, domestic, and international totals