'The Odyssey' breaks IMAX's all-time box office record
Christopher Nolan's epic has grossed $289 million in IMAX alone, passing Avatar's $270 million record, on its way to $1.627 billion worldwide — the highest-grossing R-rated film in history.
"The Odyssey," released in July 2026, has become the highest-grossing IMAX release of all time, taking in $289 million through the format worldwide and surpassing "Avatar's" longstanding $270 million record. The film also posted the highest second-weekend IMAX gross ever recorded, at $48 million — an unusual hold that points to strong word-of-mouth rather than a front-loaded opening.
Globally, the film has grossed $1.627 billion, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film in box office history — a category previously dominated by franchise action and horror titles, not adaptations of a 3,000-year-old epic poem.
Why the number matters beyond the headline
IMAX's business model depends on a small number of tentpole releases converting premium-format tickets into outsized revenue relative to a film's total footprint in theaters. A record this size, on an R-rated title with adult-skewing marketing rather than a four-quadrant franchise release, is a data point studios and exhibitors will study closely heading into next year's slate decisions — R-rated event filmmaking has been a harder sell to greenlight than franchise IP for most of the last decade.
- IMAX gross
- $289 million, an all-time record (previous record: Avatar, $270 million)
- Second-weekend IMAX gross
- $48 million, also a record
- Worldwide gross
- $1.627 billion
- Notable distinction
- Highest-grossing R-rated film in box office history
- Release
- July 2026
Newswire Hollywood's Deals Desk will keep tracking how this record shapes studio greenlighting decisions through the rest of awards season.