FRIDAY AM UPDATE after Thursday exclusive: Universal is calling the Thursday night previews for Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey at $17.6 million.
That’s the best preview number of 2026 year to date, ahead of Toy Story 5‘s $17.5M.
Breaking down last night’s gross, 25% came from Imax digital screens, 25% came from exhibitor-owned PLF screens (that includes Dolby, Screen-X), 5% from Imax 70MM screens (excellent, considering there is only 34 of them), and 3% from regular 70MM. Add it all up and that’s 58% from Imax, PLFs and 70MM prints. Fandango just reported that Odyssey is its No. 1 preseller of 2026 (we told you that advance ticket sales were around $40M).
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In regards to the sellout of Imax seats, well, that just depends on the theater and the showtime. There’s two open front rows at Universal CityWalk’s 7 p.m. show at the time of this post, while AMC Lincoln Square has several Imax showtimes sold out, with a handful of seats in 70MM and Dolby. Regal’s shiny revamped Sherman Oaks Galleria location has the three front rows available in its RPX auditorium with its cushy Mercedes Benz-like seats for 6:15 p.m., while the Imax 7:15 show only has a handful of front seats.
AMC Burbank’s first show today for The Odyssey was at 7:10 a.m., while its latest show was at 1:50 a.m. Saturday. AMC Lincoln Square kicked off at 7 a.m. today and is playing shows well into the middle of the night, with a 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. showtime on Saturday (sounds fun: a near 3-hour movie, then breakfast, then sleep).
The Odyssey, starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal, is playing everywhere, not just the coasts but deep into markets like Houston, Denver, Vancouver and Toronto in addition to B.O. capitals L.A. and NYC.
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Today’s revised preview figure of $17.6M is exactly the same as Matt Reeves’ The Batman in 2022, which went on to post a $56.6M Friday/previews figure and a $134M 3-day opening It’s $100,000 higher than the next year’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3, which posted $48.1M first Friday/previews and a $118.4M start. It’s also just under the $18M of Universal’s 2022 Jurassic World: Dominion, which posted a $59.5M first Friday and 3-day of $145M. So, it’s pretty safe to say we’re looking at a $100M-plus opening weekend for the big-screen take of Homer’s epic poem.
Nolan’s top openers are The Dark Knight Rises ($160.8M), The Dark Knight ($158.4M) and Oppenheimer ($82.4M).
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In regards to the week, Disney’s live-action Moana ends its with $63M at 3,875 theaters. Tuesday was the Dwayne Johnson’s movie best day with $7.3M. That first-week take is -13% behind the star’s first week of San Andreas ($72.6M), which ended its domestic run at $155.1M.
The chart:
- Moana (Dis) 3,875 theaters Wk $63M/Wk 1
- Minions & Monsters (Uni) 4,244 theaters, Wk $35M (-44%), Total $122.8M/Wk 2
- Toy Story 5 (Dis) 3,575 theaters, Wk $30.8M (-38%), Total $416.1M/Wk 4
- Evil Dead Burn (NL/WB) 3,004 theaters, Wk $19.1M/Wk 1
- Young Washington (Angel) 2,771 theaters, Wk $10.6M (-45%), Total $37.3M/Wk 2
PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE: Universal’s Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey is sailing to previews tonight around $15 million give or take.
If that figure posts, it will rank as the best preview we’ve seen so far this year for a live-action title, ahead of Lionsgate’s Michael ($12.6M previews, $97.2M U.S. opening).
On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score for The Odyssey stands at 96%, the best ever for a Nolan film, ahead of the 94% audience grades for Batman Begins, Dark Knight and Memento, as well as the filmmaker’s multi Oscar winner Oppenheimer (91%).
Already, The Odyssey‘s previews are ahead of Oppenheimer‘s ($10.5M), which was also beefed up by large-format premium-screen ticket sales. That biopic, with Barbie leading the weekend at the time, saw a $33M Friday/previews and a 3-day of $82.4M. Currently, The Odyssey ranks as the British filmmaker’s third best preview night stateside behind Dark Knight Rises ($30.6M) and Dark Knight ($18.5M).
The question remains this weekend whether The Odyssey will cross over into non-premium format auditoriums. Most audiences are willing to wait and see Odyssey in the best seats and best showtimes possible. Sources told us that advance tickets sales heading into the weekend were around $30M-$40M (By comparison, Wicked: For Good clocked $60M in advance tickets before its $147M U.S./Canada opening, while Deadpool & Wolverine counted $50M in presales, that sequel opening to a R-rated domestic record $211.4M). Imax 70MM showtimes for The Odyssey sold out a year in advance, and if you’re looking for Imax or large-format seats in the next three days, chances are you’ll be sitting in the front row, cranking your neck up at the screen.
So then how does Odyssey‘s previews stack up to other appointment-viewing movies, which are promoted and driven by Imax sales? It’s not far from James Cameron’s 2022 Avatar: The Way of Water ($17M previews, 3-day of $134M and a 3 hours and 12 minutes running time, to Odyssey‘s 2 hours and 52 minutes), and it’s well above Legendary/Warner Bros’ 2024 Dune: Part II which had $12M in previews and opened to $82.5M in North America.
We’re going to have plenty more updates tomorrow. Tonight’s estimates are from sources. Universal did not return request for comment.