‘The Odyssey’ Breaks Records With Massive Debut at U.K. and Ireland Box Office - Variety

What the report says

Variety reported that Universal’s “The Odyssey” opened at No. 1 across the U.K. and Ireland with a debut weekend of £12.5 million, or about $16.8 million. The July 21 report said the launch was Christopher Nolan’s second-largest opening weekend in that market and surpassed the opening of “Oppenheimer.”

According to Variety, premium large-format screenings were a major driver of the result. The film posted the year’s biggest opening Friday in the territory and delivered Universal’s fifth-largest opening Friday there. London’s BFI Imax, described as the U.K.’s largest screen, recorded its highest three-day opening weekend, taking $294,249 at one venue and narrowly beating the previous record set by “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in 2017. Variety said the site has so far recorded more than 82,000 admissions, $2.9 million in ticket sales, a 94% occupancy rate and 173 consecutive sold-out showtimes.

The rest of the top five was led by Disney’s “Toy Story 5,” which earned $2.2 million in its fifth weekend for a $60.6 million total, followed by Disney’s live-action “Moana” with $2 million in its second weekend and $7.4 million overall. Universal’s “Minions & Monsters” placed fourth with $1.5 million, while Studiocanal’s “Evil Dead Burn” ranked fifth with $406,258.

The result matters because it signals a strong theatrical turnout for a major summer release in a market where premium screens can substantially lift opening-weekend grosses. Variety also noted several upcoming releases, including “Chickenhare And The Secret Of The Groundhog,” a re-release of “Chicken Run,” a 4K restoration of “Nostalghia,” and other specialty titles.