The Odyssey Advance Box Office (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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The Odyssey took its first step with a move few saw coming. Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic, without even a trailer playing in front of a packed crowd, became the highest-grossing movie of 2026, per ScreenRant.
Yes, you read that right. This is not a prediction but a fact. Tickets for IMAX 70mm previews, set a year ahead of release, went live, and fans moved fast. Some of those tickets were gone within hours, and a few ended up on resale sites, going for way more than the original price.
me to the people who got The Odyssey tickets in IMAX 70MM after they sold out in 30 seconds pic.twitter.com/Z96bITRsYi
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: Early Box Office Numbers
Christopher Nolan is not new to this strategy. His name alone pulls people into theatres, and now, with the extra addition of Matt Damon and Tom Holland to the mix, while placing it in the heat of summer and wrapping it in a fantasy-action epic tailor-made for the big screen, it is not hard to see what is coming.
However, what’s unusual this time is how early things kicked off. The project has not yet been finished filming, and with no marketing blitz and with just a date and a format, more than a million dollars in ticket sales are already banked.
The Odyssey became 2026’s top-grossing film the moment ticket sales opened, even if it all began with just twenty dollars. However, that number has surged since, as according to The Hollywood Reporter, early sales have already passed 1.5 million dollars for shows that are still twelve months away.
— van watches movies (@alejandroxpadi) July 17, 2025
The Odyssey Sets A New Standard For Advance Box Office Sales
Nolan is already making waves about his next movie, even at a time when most studios have not opened sales for films landing this year. This puts The Odyssey in a rare spot because no movie in recent memory has pulled off something like this. Hollywood does not usually gamble on year-ahead ticket drops because it is too early and too uncertain. However, that risk turned into a reward. At least for now, The Odyssey has written itself into the record books with nothing more than a few thousand seats and one very smart launch.
Whether it stays at the top is another story. Star Wars and Avengers are set to return, and Toy Story and Shrek are making comebacks as well. The box office race in 2026 will be packed, but whatever the outcome months from now, The Odyssey already stands as the first to reach the finish line before the race even started.
