On October 9, Universal returned The Odyssey to some IMAX cinemas, including the screens equipped for 70mm film projection. A week earlier, those screens had been given over to Alejandro González Iñárritu's new film, The Digger. That was enough for The Odyssey, in its eighteenth week of release, to re-enter the top ten highest-grossing films in the US. Weekend takings came to about $2 million, up almost 60 percent. The film's total domestic gross reached $622 million.
There are only 41 cinemas in the world equipped to show the 15/70 mm IMAX film format in which Christopher Nolan shot The Odyssey. Since July, the film had occupied most of these halls. On October 2, The Digger, starring Tom Cruise, opened on the same screens. The picture, however, failed to draw audiences: against a studio forecast from Warner Bros. of $12–15 million, it took only $8 million in the US over its first weekend. It is the weakest opening for a Cruise film since Lions for Lambs in 2007. After one week of release, cinemas returned the film to Nolan's picture.
The return to IMAX screens has allowed The Odyssey to keep competing with the most successful films of recent years. It is roughly $14 million short of Deadpool & Wolverine and Barbie, each of which took about $636 million at the American box office.
In South Korea, according to the national Korean Film Council's figures as of October 11, The Odyssey has already become the highest-grossing foreign film in the country's history. Its takings have reached 138.3 billion won, surpassing the result of Avatar: The Way of Water. By number of tickets sold, The Odyssey ranks fifth in Korea, although many viewers paid for more expensive formats.
Viewers on box-office forums note that tickets for IMAX screenings are still hard to get. One commenter said that even on a Friday evening, three months after the premiere, the hall was 40 percent full. Another user wrote that they still cannot buy a ticket, since they sell out instantly.
Taking IMAX away from The Digger was a smart move.
— from a comment on a box-office forum
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