The Odyssey Becomes the Highest-Grossing R-Rated Movie Ever

Christopher Nolan has a new box-office record. The Odyssey is now the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time before inflation adjustment, with Variety reporting a worldwide total of $1.352 billion. That puts it ahead of Deadpool & Wolverine, which finished its 2024 run with $1.338 billion globally.

The scale of the run is especially striking internationally. The Odyssey has earned roughly $516 million in North America and $835 million overseas after opening in theaters on July 17. It launched with a $123 million domestic weekend and has now become only the third R-rated film to pass $1 billion worldwide before inflation adjustment, following Joker and Deadpool & Wolverine.

IMAX has been a major part of that success. Variety says the film has generated about $354 million from IMAX screenings, while The Odyssey had already become the format’s highest-grossing release ever earlier this month. TheWrap reported that Nolan’s epic was the first feature shot entirely with IMAX film cameras.

The movie has also become Nolan’s biggest film at the worldwide box office, surpassing The Dark Knight Rises. 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.

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

And the run is not finished. The Odyssey remains in theaters, with Japan still to come in September. TheWrap says the film is on course to finish above $1.6 billion worldwide, but that remains a projection rather than a final box-office total.