Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey had a very successful opening weekend domestically, making $124.5 million, per Deadline. In a summer full of flopping franchise films, The Odyssey’s success is a testament to why studios should care about and support the artists actually making their movies.
We don’t get many big-budget movies on The Odyssey’s scale anymore. If anything does have such a large budget, it’s usually connected to a popular franchise like Star Wars or Marvel. In turn, those projects are tightly controlled to fit into a grander cinematic universe or studio strategy. Having seen The Odyssey in theaters, I can confirm that the film doesn’t feel like it’s subject to any of that while you’re watching it.
There are amazing performances all around, and so much is done in-camera that it frequently leaves you in awe. Following the success of Oppenheimer, it’s now obvious that Christopher Nolan had a very clear vision for his rendition of this classic tale, and had the resources to hire the best possible cast and crew who would put in the work to make the highest-quality film possible.
The glowing response The Odyssey is getting from critics and viewers alike shows that there’s a demand for films where that kind of commitment and passion can be felt through the screen. Obsession is on the opposite end of the budget spectrum, but I think its resonance with moviegoers this year can be attributed to similar reasons.
While corporations often think they know best, giving talented visionaries that space to do good work can result in great things. Now that franchises, comic book movies, and even Star Wars aren’t guaranteed box office hits anymore, I can only hope more studios learn the right lessons from The Odyssey’s success rather than committing themselves to a failing filmmaking approach or embracing AI. Make the filmmakers the draw, not the IP.
If you want to know how the other movies in theaters stacked up against The Odyssey, here’s Deadline’s list of the top ten highest-grossing films of this past weekend:
- The Odyssey: $124.5 million
- Moana: $19 million
- Toy Story 5: $14.8 million
- Minions & Monsters: $14.8 million
- Evil Dead Burn: $5 million
- The Invite: $3.9 million
- Young Washington: $3.67 million
- Obsession: $2.5 million
- Supergirl: $1.525 million
- Disclosure Day: $1.45 million
