On 15 July, The Odyssey began its public premieres around the world, eventually marking its arrival in the US on 17 July. Just six days later, and it had reportedly raked in over $181 million at the North America box office and $164 million internationally to get to $345.9 million. So, it’s already past its reported production budget.
Given that the reported budget was $250 million, it’s a very nerve-settling start for studio executives. When a film opens this well, it’s invariably down to strong marketing. For The Odyssey, that comes down to it being based on such an integral story in a popular setting, its record use of IMAX, and the pulling power of the director.
A Promise to Explore an Epic Story and Setting
The Odyssey is one of the most important stories of Western civilisation, telling an incredibly relatable and human tale of loyalty and guile in the face of monsters and godly intervention. It’s an uplifting tale, in the end, and one that will forever resonate. As it draws so much from Greek mythology, it has an extra selling point right now.
From the great gods to the many monsters of the tales, Greek myths are certainly popular right now. People are buying books about the original works, books that retell tales of characters like Circe, watching series on Netflix about these gods, and even playing online games that put these icons at their centre.
You only have to look as far as the platform with daily casino offers, weekly offers, and a welcome offer of 50 free spins to see this taking place. While the free spins are for the hit slot Baa, Baa, Baa, many other bonuses can be used on their other popular games, like Arc of Zeus, Spear of Athena, Hoard of Poseidon, and Hades: River of Souls – all of which feature in Homer’s original works.
Of course, this element of the appeal to go and see The Odyssey will only last if the film does well by these points of interest. So, given that the story distinctly subverts the original works and only features Athena, very lightly, on-screen from the pantheon, as word spreads after the opening weekends, this side will drop in pulling power.
Trust in Nolan and His IMAX Project
IMAX has been around for quite some time, with many films deciding to shoot select scenes with the massive, noisy cameras. Christopher Nolan decided to shoot all of his film in this format, making it the first film ideal for the massive screens with enhanced soundscapes. So, now more than ever, the inflated ticket price becomes worth it.
The fact that it’s Nolan behind the camera is a big part of IMAX now being of mass appeal. He had a huge hit with Oppenheimer in 2023, so his many fans now trust him to take on just about any story. If he says – and he did – that IMAX is the best format for this film and is worth the extra cost, people will listen and pay.
While full 70mm IMAX is rare beyond North America, regular IMAX still does the trick. The much larger screen, more angled rows of seats, and sounds that set the new comfy seats rumbling truly make for a grand experience. Add in the splendour of the locations and the actors on-screen; the visuals are enough to sway many opinions.
The Odyssey has enjoyed a red-hot start and looks primed to pass the roughly $625 million needed to breakeven. Beyond that, it’ll be down to good word of mouth spurring film fans to get this all-in IMAX experience.
