Crosswords Sudoku and Comics
Entertainment

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey Breaks His Own Domestic Box Office Record

The film surpassed The Dark Knight's nearly $535 million domestic gross just over a month into its theatrical run.

An ancient Greek warrior stands aboard a wooden ship facing a massive ocean whirlpool and towering silver giants during a violent storm.
An ancient Greek warrior stands aboard a wooden s…      The Odyssey Christopher Nolan Box Office Success    Free News Press Art Department
By Free News Press Editorial Team
Published August 25, 2026 at 1:02 AM PDT

Just over a month after its release, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has overtaken The Dark Knight as the director's highest-grossing domestic film, breaking a record that had stood for 18 years.

According to Collider, The Odyssey delivered the biggest opening-weekend haul of Nolan's career and became his third film to gross more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. It has now crossed the domestic total of The Dark Knight, which earned nearly $535 million in the United States.

The Dark Knight was released in 2008 on a reported budget of $185 million. It was a sequel to Nolan's Batman Begins and was followed by The Dark Knight Rises, which also crossed $1 billion worldwide. The film holds a 94% "Certified Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critical consensus reads: "Dark, complex, and unforgettable, The Dark Knight succeeds not just as an entertaining comic book film, but as a richly thrilling crime saga."

The 2008 film's apparent snub at the Academy Awards is widely credited as the reason the Academy expanded the Best Picture category to include more nominees the following year. It has since been considered one of the greatest crime films ever made and among the best superhero films ever produced.

The Odyssey has now broken into what Collider describes as an elite all-time domestic box office list. The film continues its theatrical run.

Matt Damon, Christopher Nolan, and Anne Hathaway at the NYC Premiere of "The Odyssey" - July 14, 2026
Matt Damon, Christopher Nolan, and Anne Hathaway …      Christopher Nolan The Odyssey    PhilipRomano / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)