Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Rules Korea’s Box Office for Fifth Straight Week—Crosses 10 Million Admissions
SEOUL, South Korea — Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is showing no signs of surrendering its throne.
The Hollywood epic has dominated South Korea's weekend box office for a fifth consecutive week, adding nearly 700,000 admissions over the latest weekend and pushing its cumulative audience beyond the extraordinary 10 million mark.
According to Korean Film Council data cited by Yonhap, The Odyssey drew 698,395 admissions from Friday through Sunday, taking its total to 10,027,997 as of Sunday.
The achievement transforms what was already a major box-office run into one of the year's biggest cinema stories in South Korea.
Nolan’s epic refuses to leave No. 1
Released in South Korea in August, The Odyssey has maintained its grip on the top spot even as major Hollywood and Korean titles have entered the market.
Its latest weekend haul comfortably kept it ahead of “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” which added 146,678 admissions, and horror film “Obsession,” which attracted 138,442 moviegoers during its debut weekend.
Korean films also trailed behind, with Road to Gyeong-ju placing fourth and Portrait of a Family debuting in fifth.
But the most revealing number may not be the weekend ranking.
It is the 10-million milestone.
Only 10 foreign films have reached 10 million in Korea
The Odyssey has now become the 10th foreign film ever to surpass 10 million admissions in South Korea, according to Yonhap.
It is also only the second film released in the country this year to reach the milestone, following The King's Warden.
Aju Press reported that the film reached the 10-million mark at around 4 p.m. Sunday, September 6, on its 33rd day in theaters.
It is the first foreign film released in 2026 to cross the threshold and the first imported movie to reach 10 million admissions in Korea since Avatar: The Way of Water four years ago.
For Nolan, the achievement is even more remarkable.
The Odyssey is now his second movie to surpass 10 million admissions in South Korea, following Interstellar.
That places the filmmaker in an unusually elite position with Korean moviegoers.
Korean audiences are turning the movie into a cultural phenomenon
The success of The Odyssey is no longer limited to movie theaters.
The film's popularity has spilled into bookstores, digital reading platforms and cultural exhibitions, suggesting that Nolan's adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic has sparked interest well beyond the multiplex.
Aju Press reported that sales of books connected to The Odyssey and Homer's original epic jumped by roughly 600 percent in July compared with the same period a year earlier.
By August, related books had climbed near the top of major Korean bestseller lists, while searches for Odyssey and Greek and Roman mythology also surged.
That kind of crossover is unusual for a modern blockbuster.
Instead of simply selling movie tickets, The Odyssey appears to be sending audiences back to the source material.
IMAX has become part of the phenomenon
The movie's premium-screen strategy has also helped fuel its theatrical momentum.
Nolan shot The Odyssey entirely using IMAX film cameras, creating a spectacle designed for the biggest possible screen.
In Korea, demand for premium screenings became so intense that desirable IMAX seats were reportedly difficult to secure, with some tickets appearing on resale markets for more than 100,000 won, or roughly $74.
The film's premium-format appeal is particularly significant at a time when Hollywood is trying to convince audiences that certain movies are worth leaving home to see rather than waiting for streaming.
The Odyssey is becoming a powerful example of that strategy working.
The numbers show how quickly the film built momentum
The film's Korean run has been remarkably fast.
Aju Press reported that The Odyssey:
- crossed 5 million admissions on Day 13
- reached 7 million on Day 19
- passed 8 million after 24 days
- reached 9 million on Day 27
- crossed 10 million on Day 33
It also overtook the final Korean admissions totals of major foreign releases from the previous three years, including Elemental, Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2.
That gives the film a remarkable combination of longevity and speed.
It isn't simply surviving in theaters.
It is continuing to attract audiences weeks after opening.
Nolan’s Korean fan base strikes again
The director's longstanding popularity in South Korea has clearly played a role.
Nolan's previous films—including The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet and Oppenheimer—have helped establish him as one of the world's most recognizable filmmaker brands among Korean moviegoers.
His promotional visit to Seoul before the movie's release also generated significant attention, with Nolan appearing alongside producer Emma Thomas and stars including Matt Damon and Charlize Theron.
That visit helped build anticipation before the film even arrived in Korean cinemas.
The global voyage is just as impressive
South Korea is not an isolated success story.
International box-office reports show The Odyssey has become one of the year's biggest theatrical hits worldwide.
Aju Press reported that the movie opened at No. 1 in 69 countries and generated approximately $264 million worldwide in its opening weekend. Its global box office had exceeded $1.56 billion as of Sunday, according to Box Office Mojo figures cited by the outlet.
The film's performance is also arriving during a broader Hollywood box-office recovery.
Reuters recently reported that the 2026 summer movie season generated approximately $4.6 billion in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales from May through August, up 26 percent from the previous summer, with films including The Odyssey helping drive the rebound.
And Korea may not be finished with Odysseus yet
The most surprising part of the story may be what happens next.
As of Monday morning, The Odyssey accounted for 45.4 percent of all advance ticket sales in South Korea, according to KOFIC data.
That was far ahead of upcoming Korean releases The Assassin(s) and Intern, which held 11.5 percent and 11 percent, respectively.
In other words, the fifth-week box-office victory may not be the end of the story.
The film has already conquered the opening weekend.
Then the second.
Then the third.
Then the fourth.
Now the fifth.
And after crossing 10 million admissions, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey has transformed from a major Hollywood release into a genuine Korean box-office phenomenon.
The question is no longer whether Odysseus can survive the journey home.
It is how much farther Nolan's epic can sail before Korea finally lets it go.