'Odyssey' tops box office in 69 countries, breaking all Nolan records

"Odyssey," the new film from director Christopher Nolan, has topped the box office in 69 countries worldwide, including North America, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Australia and India.

According to Box Office Mojo, "Odyssey" posted a global opening of $264.06 million — surpassing every previous Nolan film, including "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012), which had held the record for his highest global opening, as well as "Oppenheimer" (2023), "Tenet" (2020), "Dunkirk" (2017) and "Interstellar" (2014).

Critical acclaim has accompanied the strong opening numbers. "Odyssey" currently holds a 95 percent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 97 percent Popcornmeter audience score.

Rotten Tomatoes noted that the film earned its 95 percent score "despite a runtime of no less than 172 minutes," calling it the best mark of Nolan's career and his sixth film to score above 90 percent.

The Wrap wrote that "you can no longer say Hollywood doesn't make movies like this anymore — no one has ever made a movie like this," while the BBC said the film is "so immersive it feels as though we are on the voyage ourselves."

The Hollywood Reporter called it "a massive spectacle that overwhelms the IMAX screen," and IndieWire praised its "overwhelming sense of immersion that makes the heat of Troy feel viscerally real."

"Odyssey" is a blockbuster adaptation of Homer's ancient epic poem "The Odyssey." The film follows the hero Odysseus, who led the Greeks to victory in the Trojan War, as he endures trials set by the gods on his decade-long journey home to Ithaca.

Nolan, along with lead actors Matt Damon and Charlize Theron, will visit South Korea on Aug. 3 to promote the film. It will be Nolan's first visit to the country and Theron's first official trip to Korea. Damon is also returning for the first time in 10 years since "Jason Bourne" in 2016, and will meet local fans during the visit.