Friday, July 17, 2026

Box Office: Pow! “The Odyssey” Starts with Triumphant $17.6 in Previews, with Shows Playing Around the Clock for Nolan’s Masterpiece

Share

★ Make Showbiz411 your Preferred Source on Google

Odysseus is coming home!

Yesterday, Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” a three hour masterpiece, arrived in spectacular fashion.

Previews brought in $17.6 million as theaters showed the movie around the clock, and audiences checked in even at 3am and 7am.

On social media, about 99% of the reaction from regular theatergoers was gushing with raves. And rightly so. “The Odyssey,” based on Homer’s 3,000 year old tales, is magnificently made cinema with Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, John Leguizamo, and Samantha Morton heading up an all star cast that also includes Charlize Theron and many more.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics score this morning “The Odyssey” stands at 96% fresh, with a ranking of 97 on the audience meter.

In some locations, you can’t even get a ticket to the movie, especially if you want to see it in IMAX.

But you don’t have to see it in IMAX. A big screen will suffice, at least the firs time you see it — because this is a movie that demands a couple of viewings.

So we’re off to the races! “The Odyssey” should have no trouble clearing $100 million this weekend, and maybe more like $125 million.

Also, this is the Best Picture of 2027, kids. No matter what good films come next, nothing can top this achievement. Look for Best Actor (Damon), Supporting Actress (Hathaway, Morton), Supporting Actor (John Leguizamo,Tom Holland) and more!

Donate to Showbiz411.com

Showbiz411 is now in its 13th year of providing breaking and exclusive entertainment news. This is an independent site, unlike the many Hollywood trades that are owned by one company. To continue providing news that takes a fresh look at what's going on in movies, music, theater, etc, advertising is our basis. Reader donations would be greatly appreciated, too. They are just another facet of keeping fact based journalism alive.
Thank you


Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read more

In Other News