Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has crossed $1 billion in global box office after three weeks of release, according to Variety — and it has not yet opened in China.

The film has grossed $429.65 million domestically (the United States and Canada) and $578.8 million internationally, for a total of $1.008 billion, Variety reported on 7 August. It is Nolan's first film since 2012's The Dark Knight Rises to pass the milestone, and it is on pace to become his highest-grossing release, overtaking The Dark Knight Rises ($1.08 billion) and The Dark Knight ($1.008 billion) Variety.

IMAX has been a formidable engine. Large-format screens contributed $257 million in ticket sales, and The Odyssey will rank as IMAX's highest-grossing release of all time by the end of the weekend, per Variety.

The film opened on 19 July to $124.5 million domestically and $139.6 million from 73 international markets — a $264.1 million worldwide start that set a record opening for Nolan and stood as the biggest launch for a live-action film in 2026 Reuters. It held strongly in its second weekend, earning $87 million AP News.

What makes the trajectory unusual is the runway still ahead. The Odyssey reached a billion dollars before its China debut, which is set for 14 August on nearly 800 IMAX screens and thousands of standard auditoriums, according to Variety. Every dollar earned from that market will push the total higher.

The film stars Matt Damon as the Greek king Odysseus, adapted from a nearly 3,000-year-old poem. It is Nolan's second collaboration with Universal Pictures, following Oppenheimer, which earned nearly $1 billion at the box office AP News.

The Odyssey is the fifth movie of 2026 to earn $1 billion, joining Spider-Man: Brand New Day ($1.18 billion), Toy Story 5 ($1.067 billion), The Super Mario Galaxy Movie ($1.001 billion) and Michael ($1.001 billion), per Variety. For context, a record nine films crossed the milestone in 2019; no year since has had more than three reach it. That 2026 has already produced five — by early August — points to a theatrical marketplace running hotter than it has in years.

Whether The Odyssey climbs past The Dark Knight Rises to claim Nolan's personal crown is now a question of how deep the China run runs. The numbers so far suggest it will not take long to find out.