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A 2,700-Year-Old Poem Just Beat Jurassic World
By the end of this weekend Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will have taken $1.684 billion worldwide, passing Jurassic World's $1.677 billion to become the highest-grossing film Universal has ever released.
The split: $601.2 million domestic, $1.083 billion international. That makes it the 12th highest-grossing film ever made and the third-biggest non-franchise title of all time.
It is also the highest-grossing R-rated film ever made, ahead of Deadpool & Wolverine's $1.33 billion, and the highest-grossing film in IMAX history at more than $486 million worldwide. It holds the biggest IMAX 70mm opening weekend on record and the biggest Universal R-rated opening weekend domestically at $123.5 million.
The number that explains it is the multiple: 6.33 times its opening weekend. In its eighth weekend it returned to number one worldwide and fell only 9% at home.
One record it did not take. Jurassic World is still Universal's biggest film in American cinemas, $653.4 million to $601.2 million.
The spine
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, an R-rated adaptation of a poem roughly 2,700 years old, will finish this weekend on $1.684 billion worldwide — past Jurassic World (2015, $1.677 billion) — making it the highest-grossing film Universal has ever released.
What it does NOT hold
- Domestically it is still second to Jurassic World for Universal ($601.2M vs $653.4M).
- It is the second-biggest film of 2026, behind Sony's Spider-Man: Brand New Day (~$935M+ by Sunday).
The studio
- Universal leads all majors with $4.92B worldwide to date in 2026.
- First studio past $4B globally and past $3B internationally this year.
How this was verified — the rest of the fact sheet
Quote
"What Chris and Emma [Thomas] have created will go down as one of the most ambitious and brilliantly executed films in cinematic history. A generational event that galvanizes moviegoing itself." — Donna Langley, Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment
Sources
- Deadline, Anthony D'Alessandro, "'The Odyssey' Slays 'Jurassic World'…", 12 Sep 2026.
- The Hollywood Reporter, "'The Odyssey' Conquers 'Jurassic World'…", 12 Sep 2026.
- Variety, "'The Odyssey' Becomes Universal's Highest-Grossing Film of All Time", 12 Sep 2026.
Records broken
- Highest-grossing film for Christopher Nolan domestically, internationally and globally (past The Dark Knight's $534.9M domestic; past his previous worldwide best of $1.085B).
- Highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, past Deadpool & Wolverine ($1.33B).
- Highest-grossing film ever for IMAX ($486M+ worldwide).
- Biggest IMAX 70mm opening weekend domestically ($6.3M).
- Biggest Universal R-rated opening weekend domestically ($123.5M).
- Biggest Nolan opening internationally ($139.6M) and globally ($264.1M).
- First non-sequel, non-remake to gross over $1B internationally since 2009.
- Highest-grossing Universal film ever in 45 international markets (incl. Australia, France, Italy, India, Korea).
References
Reporting drawn from Deadline · The Hollywood Reporter · Variety
What the reel says
Narration as scripted and voiced.
A film of a 2,700-year-old poem is now the biggest movie Universal has ever released. By the end of this weekend, The Odyssey will have taken $1.684 billion worldwide
It passes Jurassic World, which finished its run in twenty fifteen at one point six seven seven billion. The gap between them is about seven million dollars
$601 million of that came from American cinemas. $1.083 billion came from everywhere else. That makes it the 12th highest grossing film ever made
It is Christopher Nolan's biggest picture by every measure. It passed The Dark Knight at home, and it passed his own worldwide best of one point zero eight five billion
And it is rated R. No superhero, no sequel, no remake. It is now the highest grossing R-rated film ever made, ahead of Deadpool and Wolverine
The strangest number is the multiple. The Odyssey has earned six point three three times its opening weekend. In its eighth weekend, it went back to number one in the world, and it fell only nine percent at home
It is also the biggest film IMAX has ever played at four hundred and eighty-six million dollars. The biggest 70-millimeter opening weekend on record belongs to It as well
Universal has taken four point nine two billion dollars this year. The first studio passed four billion. Donna Langley called it a generational event that galvanizes moviegoing itself
Jurassic World still holds one record. It is still the biggest Universal film in American cinemas. Everywhere else on Earth, Homer won
All footage is licensed stock. No film footage, trailer frames or likenesses.
