Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is tracking for an $80 million to $100 million domestic opening weekend, according to Deadline, placing the film in rare company ahead of its July 17 Universal Pictures release. Early tracking data shows first-choice interest among men over 25 running slightly ahead of where Oppenheimer stood at the same point before that film opened to $82.4 million.
The film held its first press screenings at AMC Lincoln Square in New York this week. Early reactions singled out Matt Damon's performance as Odysseus for standout praise, while Tom Holland drew comparisons that included Oscar consideration, according to attendees. The screening closed with applause. Cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema was cited across reactions, with sequences depicting the Cyclops, the Sirens, Charybdis, and a shipwreck among those drawing particular attention.
The screenings also confirmed Elliot Page's role: Page plays Sinon, a treacherous Greek soldier who deceives the Trojans regarding the Trojan Horse, not Achilles as some had speculated. Zendaya plays Athena. Lupita Nyong'o takes the role of Clytemnestra. The full ensemble includes Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal.
In interviews tied to the screenings, Nolan cited Akira Kurosawa's 1985 war epic Ran as a key visual reference, describing "this relationship between the environment and the wind." He also pointed to Tarkovsky's Andrei Rublev for its material texture.
The film runs 2 hours and 52 minutes and carries an R rating. Its IMAX rollout is substantial: 70MM IMAX screens were reported sold out more than a year in advance, with a three-week exclusive large-format engagement preceding the wider release. The film's net production budget is approximately $250 million.