Christopher Nolan’s Greek myth epic The Odyssey is on its way to becoming Universal’s highest-grossing movie ever.
The film has crossed the $1.6 billion mark at the box office, which puts it within touching distance of Universal’s current highest-grossing movie, Jurassic World. The dino flick stands at $1.67 billion at the box office, while The Odyssey is closing in with $1.63 billion.
It’s no surprise that The Odyssey is doing so well, considering IMAX 70mm screenings were extended to accommodate the huge demand.
The film follows Matt Damon’s Odysseus on his mammoth journey home from the Trojan War, which puts him up against a cyclops, a sea monster, a massive whirlpool, man-eating giants, and a witch who likes to turn men into pigs. Meanwhile, his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) must fend off the suitors who want to marry her, led by Robert Pattinson’s Antinous – while Odysseus and Penelope’s son Telemachus (Tom Holland) sets off to seek news of his father.
The Odyssey beat The Dark Knight Rises to have the biggest opening weekend of Nolan’s career, and it also beat Deadpool and Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.
“What you’re looking for is to bring something new to show something to the audience that maybe they haven’t had the chance to experience before,” Nolan previously told GamesRadar+ of the movie. “The Odyssey, ironically for a 3000-year-old foundational text, is a story really at the bottom of so many other stories that have followed it since. It underpins so much of movies, but it has never been done in modern cinema.”
The Odyssey is in theaters now. For more, check out our The Odyssey review, or our The Odyssey beginner’s guide for a background on Homer’s epic.