Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Lupita Nyong’o star in the story of Odysseus (Damon) aiming to return home after the Trojan War to reclaim his throne as the king of Ithaca and reunite with wife Penelope (Hathaway).

Nolan’s biggest domestic opening of his career was The Dark Knight Rises in July 2012, as the Batman sequel soared with $160 million domestically before surpassing $1 billion in global run.

My Oscar Book:

The filmmaker’s 2023’s Oppenheimer, which opened to $82.4 million domestically and ultimately picked up $975 million worldwide, along with winning seven Academy Awards, including best picture and Nolan’s first best director Oscar.

While The Odyssey is the lone wide release opening this weekend, Oppenheimer famously was part of the cultural sensation known as Barbenheimer, with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie sharing its July 21 release date as social media users boasted about catching the unlikely double feature.

The Odyssey marks the first film to be shot entirely on IMAX cameras, making premium large formats a key draw for many moviegoers. Given that only 25 U.S. theaters screen IMAX 70mm film, those tickets have been particularly coveted for cinephiles.

Universal’s adaptation of Homer’s epic work of Greek literature also has the benefit of the following weekend being a rare July frame to not hold any new wide releases. Studios were apparently reticent to place a title in between this weekend’s The Odyssey and the July 31 release for Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, also starring Holland and Zendaya.

Serving as potential competition for moviegoing this weekend, particularly for international audiences, is Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Argentina. It takes place in the afternoon at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium.

The Odyssey actor Jon Bernthal detailed challenging moments during the shoot, including being submerged in chilly water for the memorable Trojan Horse sequence while playing Menelaus. Bernthal recalled that Nolan offered to remove him from the water, to which the performer screamed back: “You ain’t breaking me, Chris. There’s nothing you can do to break me.”