The Odyssey has smashed yet another box office record, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film ever.
Christopher Nolan’s epic adventure has now taken a staggering $1.3 billion at the global box office, overtaking the previous record held by 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine.
Ryan Reynolds, who starred in Deadpool & Wolverine, acknowledged the milestone on X in his usual tone - hilarious - sharing clips from both films and congratulating the cast and crew of The Odyssey.
Congratulations to the entire cast and crew of The Odyssey for becoming the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time. That is one helluva car. pic.twitter.com/s7QzTza21l
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 19, 2026
The only other R-rated film to cross the $1 billion mark was 2019’s Joker.
The milestone is another major achievement for Nolan, whose previous highest-grossing film was 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.
The Odyssey was already making history before reaching the $1 billion mark. Its opening weekend saw the film take an estimated $264.1 million worldwide, making it the biggest global opening of Nolan’s career and beating the $249 million opening of The Dark Knight Rises.
It also gave The Odyssey the biggest global opening ever for one of Nolan’s films outside the Batman franchise.
The film recorded the biggest opening for a live-action movie in 2026 so far, while its overall opening weekend ranked third among all films released this year, behind Toy Story 5 and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Based on Homer’s ancient Greek epic, The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and follows his dangerous journey home following the Trojan War.
The film features a huge ensemble cast, including Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Elliot Page, Lupita Nyong’o, Mia Goth, Himesh Patel and Jon Bernthal.
The success follows Nolan’s previous film Oppenheimer, which opened with $180 million worldwide before going on to earn almost $1 billion globally.
The Odyssey has also proved hugely popular with Irish audiences.
Almost €1 million was taken at the Irish box office during its opening weekend, with particularly strong demand for IMAX and other premium screenings.
Dublin cinemas have reported around 80,000 viewers for The Odyssey in IMAX, while ODEON has confirmed that almost 20,000 fans have seen the film at its Blanchardstown location.
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ODEON Blanchardstown is one of only two cinemas in Ireland offering an IMAX experience.
However, despite the figures being reported as IMAX attendance, there is no traditional IMAX cinema currently operating in Dublin. The Irish IMAX options are limited, making the strong demand for premium large-format screenings all the more notable.
The Odyssey was released in cinemas on July 17 and continues to be a major success for Nolan, with the latest box office milestone adding yet another record to the film’s growing list of achievements.
