By Dawn Chmielewski
LOS ANGELES, July 19 (Reuters) - Director Christopher Nolan's adaptation of "The Odyssey" had an epic debut, grossing $264.1 million in global ticket sales on its opening weekend, including $124.5 million in the U.S. and Canada, Universal Pictures said on Sunday.
The film, based on the ancient Greek poem by Homer, stars Matt Damon as the Greek hero Odysseus, and follows his perilous journey home after fighting the Trojan War. It is Nolan's first movie since the 2023 blockbuster "Oppenheimer," which won Academy Awards in several categories, including directing and best picture.
"There's just palpable excitement across the domestic market this weekend for 'The Odyssey'," said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic theatrical distribution.
The film topped the weekend's domestic and global box office, according to Rentrak. It had broad appeal with movie-goers, with half of ticket-buyers between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, Orr told Reuters.
The strong opening performance of the film is a testament to Nolan's popularity among moviegoers.
"Modern audiences should not be underestimated on their knowledge of film and filmmakers," said Paul Dergarabedian, Rentrak's head of marketplace trends. "And that passion they have for film is manifest in their devotion to Christopher Nolan. It really is a thing."
"The Odyssey" cost $250 million to make. It received an A CinemaScore from filmgoers who attended opening-night screenings, and an audience rating of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The film ranks among Nolan's biggest opening weekends.
Factoring in inflation, "The Odyssey" ranks as his third-highest-opening film globally, behind 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises" and 2008's "The Dark Knight," which brought in inflation-adjusted totals of $358.5 million and $304 million, respectively, in worldwide ticket sales during their opening weekends.
Half the movie-goers elected to see "The Odyssey" in an enhanced format in the U.S. and Canada, including 23% at IMAX, according to Universal.
Fans began snapping up tickets for "The Odyssey" a year ago when seats at select IMAX theaters went on sale. IMAX said demand for tickets was so high that more than 50 theaters across North America added show times between midnight and 7 a.m.
IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond said the company had booked $50 million in advance ticket sales, its strongest presales ever. He has extolled the use of IMAX cameras and 70 mm film to capture the sweeping narrative, generating more buzz around the movie.
"It was just a well-made — almost perfectly made — movie in many respects," said Gelfond.
Most scholars believe the epic poem attributed to Homer was composed in the seventh or eighth century BC and was sung and passed on orally before it was written down. Nolan's film centers on a portion of Odysseus' homecoming, where he encounters gods and monsters, storms and tragedy.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Sergio Non, Chizu Nomiyama and Christina Fincher)
