An R-rated Homer adaptation is now the biggest film Universal has ever released, ahead of Jurassic World
Universal Pictures has seen a decade-old record fall at the box office, as Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey strides to a historic studio crown.
Well, it's happened. Christopher Nolan has finally toppled one of Universal Pictures' oldest box office giants – and it took him less than a year. His latest effort, the Greek epic The Odyssey, has elbowed aside Jurassic World to become Universal's all-time highest-grossing film, both in the US and worldwide.
The Odyssey is now Universal Pictures' biggest box office hit ever, with $1.684 billion and counting around the globe.
Record-Breaking Numbers
Let's put this in perspective, because it's not just a near miss. The Odyssey has climbed to a rather staggering $1.684 billion in worldwide receipts, according to Deadline. That puts it just ahead of Jurassic World's $1.677 billion haul from 2015. The domestic (US) total is no slouch either – $601.2 million as of Sunday, with the rest coming from a storming $1.083 billion overseas.
This haul doesn't just put the film on top of Universal's pile. Nolan's take on Homer is now the 12th highest-grossing film in history. For a non-franchise film not propped up by decades of sequels and spin-offs, that's almost unheard-of. It’s sitting as the third-biggest original (non-franchise) film at the worldwide box office, for people who care about such pecking orders. By its eighth week in cinemas, The Odyssey was still mighty – even reclaiming the global No. 1 spot that weekend, and only dropping 9% in US takings when most films would be lucky not to nosedive faster.
Read more: The Odyssey just did something at the box office we haven’t seen in 17 years
More Feats for Nolan
It’s a great result for Christopher Nolan, too. Before this, his biggest hit in the States was The Dark Knight, which topped out at $534.9 million. The Odyssey has smashed through that mark. The wins don’t stop there:
- Biggest global and international opening weekend of Nolan's career
- Biggest US opening weekend for an IMAX 70mm release ($6.3 million)
- Universal's largest ever R-rated opening in the US – a hefty $123.5 million
- The highest gross ever for any R-rated film, beating Deadpool & Wolverine's $1.33 billion record
- Highest-grossing Universal release in 45 international markets
If you’re keeping score, it had a 6.39x multiplier on its global box office gross – basically, it had strong word of mouth and stuck around far longer than most blockbusters, steadily piling on tickets week after week.
Studio Reactions
Over at Universal, there's no hiding their delight. Donna Langley, who chairs NBCUniversal Entertainment, publicly heaped praise on Nolan and producer Emma Thomas after the achievement. Here’s how she put it when the film hit its latest milestone:
"What Chris and Emma [Thomas] have created will go down as one of the most ambitious and brilliantly executed films in cinematic history. It’s a generational event that galvanizes moviegoing itself."
Not much room for understatement there. To top it off, Universal is having itself quite the year, with total box office takings already over $4.92 billion for 2026 so far – easily leading all the major studios.