‘The Odyssey’ continued to exert a mighty hold on moviegoers in its second weekend in North American theaters, with USD 87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That’s only a 30% drop from its first weekend, an incredibly modest slide for a blockbuster. It’s also filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s best second weekend ever, not accounting for inflation. In 2008, ‘The Dark Knight’ earned USD 75.2 million in weekend two.With USD 128.3 million from international theaters, ‘The Odyssey’ has made an estimated USD 639.6 million globally.
‘The Odyssey’ scores with IMAX
As with last weekend, much of that sum is from premium large format screens. IMAX screens alone accounted for USD 48 million of the global earnings this weekend. The coveted 70 mm IMAX screens, of which there are only 41 worldwide, earned USD 5.2 million. Most of those showtimes are sold out through September, the company said.
‘Spider-Man’ to challenge ‘The Odyssey’
There was no significant new competition this weekend or last. Regardless, the second weekend earnings is rare for a movie that opened over USD 100 million. For an R-rated movie, it’s second only to ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’.But the open waters will become a little more crowded next weekend when audiences get another blockbuster option with ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’, which shares actors Tom Holland and Zendaya with ‘The Odyssey’, Some analysts say that ‘Spider-Man’ could net the biggest opening weekend of the year. Still, Nolan’s film will have its run of most IMAX screens for weeks to come.
‘Toy Story’ surpasses USD 1 Billion
Second and third place went to Disney releases, ‘Moana’ with USD 10.5 million, and ‘Toy Story 5’ close behind with USD 10 million. The latter surpassed $1 billion in its fifth weekend, with USD 448 million from domestic theaters and USD 573 million from international screens. It’s the sixth Pixar film to hit the milestone.Bleecker Street’s release of ‘Hadestown: The Musical’, a live stage recording of the show, rounded out the top five with USD 9.7 million in its first weekend. The hit Broadway show uses folk and jazz to tell an ancient Greek tale.Olivia Wilde’s chamber dramedy ‘The Invite’ also continues to do well in its platform release, with another USD 2.6 million that brings its running total to USD 19.8 million.
Summer box office surpasses USD 3 billion
The year overall is running about 10% ahead of last year, and the summer box office this weekend surpassed USD 3 billion. Before the pandemic, the summer movie season would regularly exceed USD 4 billion. The only other time it has since was the ‘Barbenheimer’ in 2023. Dergarabedian is cautiously optimistic that it could be within reach this summer too.“That’s a pretty heavy lift for August, but this could be a mega August given the staying power of ‘The Odyssey’ coupled with ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” he said. “For ‘The Odyssey’ it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon run that’ll play well into August.”
Top 10 movies at the North American box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:1. ‘The Odyssey’ – USD 87 million.2. ‘Moana’ – USD 10.5 million.3. ‘Toy Story 5’ – USD 10 million.4. ‘Minions & Monsters’ – USD 9.7 million.5. ‘Hadestown’ – USD 9.6 million.6. ‘The Invite’ – USD 2.6 million.7. ‘Evil Dead Burn’ – USD 2.6 million.8. ‘Young Washington’ – USD 2 million.9. ‘Motor City’ – USD 1.6 million.10. ‘Obsession’ – USD 1.5 million.
