EXCLUSIVE: Universal‘s Christopher Nolan epic The Odyssey is sailing to previews tonight around $15M give or take.
If that figure posts, it will rank as the best previews we’ve seen so far this year for a live-action title, ahead of Lionsgate’s Michael ($12.6M previews, $97.2M U.S. opening).
On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score for The Odyssey stands at 96%, which is the best ever for a Nolan film, ahead of the 94% audience grades for Batman Begins, Dark Knight, and Memento, as well as the filmmaker’s multi-Oscar winner Oppenheimer (91%).
Already, The Odyssey‘s previews are ahead of Oppenheimer‘s ($10.5M) which was also beefed up by large-format premium screen ticket sales. That biopic, with Barbie leading the weekend at the time, saw a $33M Friday/previews and a 3-day of $82.4M. Currently, The Odyssey ranks as the British filmmaker’s third best preview night stateside behind Dark Knight Rises ($30.6M) and Dark Knight ($18.5M).
The question remains this weekend whether The Odyssey will crossover into non-premium format auditoriums. Most audiences are willing to wait and see Odyssey in the best seats and best showtimes possible. Sources told us that advance tickets sales for The Odyssey heading into the weekend were around $30M-$40M (By comparison, Wicked: For Good clocked $60M in advance tickets before its $147M U.S./Canada opening, while Deadpool & Wolverine counted $50M in presale, that sequel opening to a R-rated domestic record with $211.4M). Imax 70MM showtimes for The Odyssey sold out a year in advance, and if you’re looking for Imax or large-format seats in the next three days, chances are you’ll be sitting in the front row, cranking your neck up at the screen.
So then how does Odyssey‘s previews stack up to other appointment-viewing movies, which are promoted and driven by Imax sales? It’s not far from James Cameron’s 2022 Avatar: The Way of Water ($17M previews, 3-day of $134M and a 3 hours and 12 minutes running time to Odyssey‘s 2 hours and 52 minutes), and it’s well above Legendary/Warner Bros’ 2024 Dune: Part II which had $12M in previews and opened to $82.5M in North America.
We’re going to have plenty more updates tomorrow. Tonight’s estimates are from sources. Universal did not return request for comment.