Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has set a new opening weekend record at the BFI Imax in London, grossing £219,867 from Friday to Sunday. The venue, located in Waterloo, has already sold 82,000 tickets for the film, generating a total gross of £2,169,882, making it the cinema's third highest-grossing film of all time.
Record-Breaking Performance
The film surpassed Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), which earned £216,454, and Nolan's own Oppenheimer (2023) with £207,677. Over eight weeks, 173 consecutive Imax 70mm screenings have sold out completely, according to the BFI. Audience members have reportedly traveled from as far as Singapore, Los Angeles, and Toronto to see the film.
Commitment to Film
Madeleine Mullett, BFI Imax programme manager, said: "As the only cinema in the UK to hold a complete archive of Christopher Nolan's Imax 70mm filmography, now including The Odyssey, we are proud to be the home of Christopher Nolan on film. The extraordinary demand for our Imax 70mm presentation of The Odyssey, experienced as intended by the filmmakers, is ultimate proof of the appetite audiences have for cinema at its most authentic."
Technical Achievement
The Odyssey is the first feature film shot entirely with Imax film cameras. It also broke the BFI Imax presale record previously held by Dune: Part Two (2024), which generated £366,000 in its first 24 hours. Oppenheimer had sold 28,000 tickets in 24 hours, generating £750,000 in gross revenue.
World Premiere
Introducing the world premiere at the venue, Nolan said: "This is a very special venue for us, it was in this very venue that I met the person to whom the film is dedicated, my friend and Imax mentor, David Keighley. I wish he were with us here tonight, but I know he'd be very proud of us."
Cast and Release
The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron. The BFI Imax is one of only three Imax 70mm prints in the UK.
