Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has added another milestone to its epic box office voyage. The blockbuster is now the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time with $1.352 billion worldwide, overtaking the benchmark set by 2024’s Deadpool and Wolverine at $1.338 billion, per Variety.
The film landed in theaters on July 17 with a mighty $123 million domestic debut and has stayed a big-screen sensation ever since. It has generated $516 million in the U.S. and Canada and $835 million overseas, a staggering tally for any release, let alone an R-rated sword-and-sandal adventure that runs nearly three hours.
“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.”
That was Ryan Reynolds, the creative force behind the Deadpool franchise, passing the baton to Nolan on X after the record changed hands.
An Epic Run
Much of the fanfare around The Odyssey has centered on Imax, which has racked up $354 million in revenue — enough to make it the format’s highest-grossing release of all time, outpacing 2009’s Avatar. The film is Nolan’s biggest ever, surpassing 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, and it joins Joker as one of only a handful of R-rated movies ever to clear the $1 billion mark.
Adapted from Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, charting his perilous journey home after the Trojan War. Damon leads a stacked ensemble that includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo.
Why It Matters
The record is the latest sign that audiences will still turn out in droves for a true big-screen event, even in the streaming era. For Nolan, it cements his standing as the undisputed king of blockbuster filmmaking, a director who can turn ancient poetry into a billion-dollar juggernaut. And with a fall slate that promises heavy hitters of its own, The Odyssey’s reign at the top of the R-rated chart may stand for a while — but Hollywood is already betting the next record-breaker is on its way.
