Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” continues to dominate with a $17M Tuesday. The film has now surpassed $700M worldwide in just 12 days. I’m guessing a $55M-ish third weekend will happen for Nolan’s epic. The billion-dollar mark will be hit soon.
“The Odyssey” has also just surpassed the $330M domestic total that “Oppenheimer” made during its entire run, and it will likely hit the $400M mark by the end of the weekend. This film is a beast, and with IMAX showings sold out in many major cities throughout much of August, it should continue to perform strongly.
Speaking of blockbusters, the biggest one of the year releases on Friday. Some are still scoffing at my $330M opening weekend prediction for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” I’m sticking with it.
While the trades continue to lowball the numbers, the latest projections for “Brand New Day” have it earning $65M-$70M in Thursday previews alone. It should be noted that the current record-holder for Thursday previews is “Avengers: Endgame” with $60M. Spidey might break it.
In fact, “Brand New Day” has, so far, sold $120M+ in ticket sales for opening weekend alone — an astounding figure. The review embargo only lifted yesterday, and that 91% Rotten Tomatoes score should give it an extra boost, not that it needs one.
Oh, and did I mention ‘Brand New Day’ and ‘Odyssey’ star Tom Holland? He’s had a historic summer ahead. At just 30 years old, Holland is on top of the world, with his next major role set to be Fred Astaire in an upcoming biopic. As we prepare for a weekend dominated by Holland’s presence, expect a flood of box-office headlines celebrating his box office triumph(s).
So, there you have, by Sunday, the box office will likely be dominated by just two movies, leaving the rest of the field in the dust. Several films that underperformed expectations this summer — including “Minions & Monsters” ($157M domestic), “Moana” ($104M), and “Evil Dead Burn” ($29M) — have struggled to keep pace.
Edward Berger seems to have settled on what comes next. His Lance Armstrong biopic, starring Austin Butler, is now holding casting calls, with production eyed for January.