It took Odysseus decades to get back to his family in Ithaca from Troy.
(In real life, we laugh because the trip now would take an hour. But I digress.)
Odysseus should have offered IMAX tickets to his troops! “The Odyssey” is now eyeing $300 million after 11 days at the box office. And that’s just in the US.
Around the world, the total is at $640 million. The $700 mil mark is close at hand.
This is extraordinary for a three hour movie based on a 3,000 year old epic poem.
The $1 billion target is going to come fast. At this rate, “The Odyssey” should remain in theaters a long time. I doubt it will come to home video anytime soon given director Christopher Nolan’s antipathy to the small screens. The last thing he wants is people watching his grand film on phones!
Meanwhile, Disney’s “Toy Story” surpassed $1 billion this weekend worldwide. “TS5” is showing no signs of slowing down, either. It’s still in wide release!
Disney’s less successful “Moana” hit $100 million this weekend also. Not quite in the same league, and derided by critics, but it’s summer, it’s hot, and the children need to go somewhere after “TS5.”
A nice box office note: the filmed version of Tony-award winning hit musical, “Hadestown,” opened to just under $10 million. It might get an extended release now that it’s been so successful. The movie has done so well that the original “Hadestown” score album has jumped to number 7 on iTunes.
Good for Bleecker Street films, which hired the great FalcoInk for publicity. They brought the magic!
