To say “The Odyssey” is ruling the cinematic seas is an understatement. Christopher Nolan‘s acclaimed adaptation of Homer’s 2,700-year-old poem dropped just 30% in its second weekend for a stellar $87 million and $286.3 million in the U.S. so far. Comparatively, that’s a larger second weekend than the $82 million opening of Nolan’s “Oppeneheimer” just three years ago. Globally, the Universal Pictures release has already earned $639.5 million in just 10 days of release.
With weeks of lucrative IMAX screens booked in territories across the globe, “The Odyssey” is on track to earn over $1 billion off a reported $250 million production cost. Essentially, a huge win for Nolan and the NBCUniversal division. The only question is how much the expected monstrous opening of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” this upcoming weekend will diminish those returns over the short term. Or will the gods gift Nolan and his brave crew another miraculous hold?
In second place, “Moana” crossed $100 million domestic with another $10.5 million, for $102.4 million in the U.S. and $228 million worldwide so far. Whether it makes it past $300 million global remains to be seen.
“Toy Story 5” took third with another $10 million for $448.5 million domestic and $1 02 billion worldwide. That makes it the third movie to cross that mark this calendar year after “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and “Michael.” The aforementioned “The Odyssey,” “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” “Avengers: Doomsday” and, potentially, “Dune Part Three” could deliver seven $1 billion grossers for Hollywood. This is now the third straight “Toy Story” film to join the billion-dollar club.
The third family-friendly movie in the marketplace, “Minions & Monsters,” hit $155.3 million stateside and $381.9 million global.
In somewhat of a surprise, the filmed version of the Broadway musical “Hadestown” is looking at a $9.6 million opening in 1,949 theaters. The Bleecker Street Crosswalk and LD Entertainment release has been marketed as just a five-day event, but you have to wonder if everyone involved will change course and keep it around for at least another weekend.
Among other new releases, IFC’s “Motor City” earned $1.62 million in just 1,600 screens while Neon found $530,00 in just 670 locales for Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Her Private Hell” for a hell-ish $765 per screen.
Olivia Wilde’s “The Invite” had the smallest drop in the top 10 at just 25% for another $2.6 million and $19.8 million. A24 acquired North American rights for $12 million. The soon-to-be $20+ million cume is a great result for an indie in 2026, but A24 will be counting on strong VOD and Mexico to overperform to get in the black.
The only major new release on Friday is “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.”
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Bluesky
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Threads
Follow Gregory Ellwood on Instagram
Follow Gregory Ellwood on TikTok
Sign Up For The Breakdown Newsletter
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
