Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' Lands on 20,000 Screens in China With Record IMAX Momentum
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey will open on more than 20,000 screens across mainland China on August 14, including roughly 90% of the territory's nearly 800 IMAX sites, according to distributor data reported by Variety.
The scale is already translating into tickets. Presale grosses reached RMB 39.5 million ($5.9 million) as of August 12 Beijing time, with combined preview and presale figures hitting RMB 91 million ($13.5 million), per the ticketing platform Maoyan. Maoyan's forecasting arm, Maoyan Pro, projects an opening-day gross of RMB 70.4 million ($10.4 million).
IMAX confirmed it will not reduce The Odyssey's China screen count, even as Spider-Man: Brand New Day — which surpassed $200 million at the China box office in 16 days of release — continues its run in Chinese cinemas. Near-total IMAX network commitments for a Hollywood film are unusual in the current Chinese market, said Adrian Tong, a senior analyst at research firm Media Partners Asia, also speaking to Variety. Tong described a nine-figure China run — that is, north of $100 million — as exceptional.
Nolan made the trip himself. He travelled to China with producer Emma Thomas and stars Matt Damon and Charlize Theron for a multi-stop publicity tour. The China premiere took place on July 30 at the China National Film Museum, on an IMAX GT-certified screen — the format's largest commercial installation. Imax China CEO Daniel Manwaring, detailing the rollout plans in late July, described a "Christopher Nolan effect" driving audience anticipation. More than 250,000 want-to-see registrations were logged on Maoyan before presales even opened.
The China launch arrives with The Odyssey already holding the title of highest-grossing IMAX release of all time: $289 million and counting as of August 10, according to IMAX. The film crossed $200 million in global IMAX grosses during its third weekend — the fastest to that mark in the format's history — and powered IMAX to its highest-grossing month on record, $257 million in July 2026 alone.
Nolan's track record in China provides some context. Oppenheimer finished at roughly $61 million in the territory; Tenet landed in a similar range. A nine-figure result for The Odyssey would put it well past both.
The IMAX rollout continues beyond China. South Korea opened on August 5; Japan follows on September 11. IMAX had scheduled The Odyssey to run on its screens globally for at least three weeks — a commitment it is now keeping even as the China expansion adds hundreds more.
For a film already rewriting IMAX records, the China opening is the next test: 20,000 screens, nearly every premium-format auditorium in the country, and a projection that puts opening day alone above $10 million before a single Friday showtime.
