The Odyssey Is Now Universal's Highest-Grossing Movie Ever — Extending Its R-Rated Record

Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has cleared a bigger milestone than its earlier R-rated record. Variety reported on September 13, 2026 that Universal had announced the film had reached $1.68 billion worldwide, passing 2015’s Jurassic World to become Universal Pictures’ highest-grossing film of all time globally, before inflation adjustment. That breakdown was $601.2 million domestic and $1.083 billion international — so the record is specifically a worldwide one, not a domestic one.

The film has kept climbing since that announcement. As of September 19, 2026, The Numbers lists a cumulative total of $609.76 million domestic, $1.112 billion international and $1.721 billion worldwide — a live tracker figure, not a fresh studio-issued total, but consistent with a film still adding meaningfully to its gross nine weeks into release. Japan, previously still to come, opened September 11 and has been contributing to the international number since.

What Else Universal Confirmed

Universal’s September 12 announcement wasn’t limited to the studio record. It also confirmed The Odyssey as:

• The highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, extending the record it set over Deadpool & Wolverine in August
• The highest-grossing IMAX release ever
• Christopher Nolan’s highest-grossing film of his career by every measure — domestic, international and worldwide — surpassing The Dark Knight Rises
• The 12th highest-grossing film in cinema history and the third-biggest non-franchise title ever
• The first non-sequel, non-remake film to pass $1 billion internationally since 2009

IMAX has been central to that run: Nolan shot the film entirely on IMAX film cameras, and it had already become the format’s highest-grossing release before the Universal-wide record followed.

The Cast and the Run So Far

Matt Damon leads the film as Odysseus, with an ensemble that includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo. The Odyssey opened domestically on July 17 with a $123 million weekend and, per Universal’s own figures, returned to the No. 1 spot globally in its eighth weekend of release, dropping just 9% domestically — an unusually resilient hold for a film two months into its run.

Ryan Reynolds marked the end of Deadpool & Wolverine’s R-rated reign back in August by congratulating Nolan and the cast and crew on X, adding the joke: “That is one helluva car.”

What’s Still Moving

The Odyssey remains in theaters, so the current $1.721 billion tracker figure isn’t necessarily final — it’s a live total that can still grow. The settled numbers are the ones Universal itself has confirmed: the $1.677 billion worldwide record and the studio, R-rated, IMAX and Nolan-career milestones tied to it. Anything higher currently being cited should be read as an ongoing tracker estimate rather than a new studio-issued figure until Universal or NBCUniversal updates its own total.

For more current box-office coverage, see our pieces on Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s fourth weekend win as Insidious opened, Resident Evil’s record-breaking opening weekend, and why Coyote vs. Acme was shelved before escaping Warner Bros.