Universal/Syncopy’s “The Odyssey” has followed up its $123.5 million domestic opening weekend with a historic follow-up.
Earning $87 million in its second weekend, it has held its weekend drop to just 30%. That stands among the top 3 lowest second weekend percentage drops ever for a film with a $100 million-plus opening, sitting behind only fellow Universal release “Wicked” with 27.9% and Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” with 28.9%. Combine that with an overseas second weekend of $128 million, and Christopher Nolan’s film stands at $639 million worldwide.
And that’s not the only encouraging sign for “The Odyssey.” According to PostTrak surveys taken this past Friday, the film had a gender split of 52% male and 48% female, evening out from the 59/41 opening day split skewing towards males. This suggests that “The Odyssey” is gradually expanding beyond its initial core demo of men under 35, which is a good sign as it prepares to compete against the four-quadrant mega blockbuster “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” next weekend.
How “The Odyssey” does next weekend will go a long way in determining how well it legs out through the month of August. But even in the worst-case scenarios, the film is a lock to hit $1 billion worldwide. The question now is whether this strong start can withstand “Spider-Man” enough to allow it to pass “Deadpool & Wolverine” as the highest grossing R-rated film of all time.
In a distant second and third are Disney holdovers “Moana” and “Toy Story 5,” two films with very different fates.
“Moana” has crossed the $100 million domestic mark in its third weekend with $10.7 million, but is going nowhere in most overseas markets with a global total of just $228 million against a production budget of at least $200 million. While passing the worldwide total of “Snow White,” this remake will be left as one of the high-profile flops of the year.
“Toy Story 5,” on the other hand, now stands as the highest grossing film of the year so far, passing $1 billion worldwide as it added $10 million domestically in its sixth weekend. With $1.02 billion worldwide, it has passed the global totals of “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Michael” to take the top spot on the annual charts, though it is expected to be surpassed by “The Odyssey” and “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” in the coming weeks.
Completing the top 5 are Universal/Illumination’s “Minions & Monsters” and Bleecker Street’s “Hadestown,” each with $9.6 million. “Minions & Monsters” is in its fourth weekend, giving it a domestic total of $155 million, while “Hadestown,” a filmed recording of the Tony-winning musical with its original cast, is the sole new release in the top 5, getting a limited engagement release in 1,949 locations.
Next weekend will be the final major release period of the summer, as “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” looks to match the spectacular $260 million domestic opening weekend of its acclaimed 2021 predecessor, “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” If it meets these sky-high projections, the global box office will have five $1 billion releases this year by the end of the summer, which would be the most in a single year this decade.
More to come…