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Only Alan Ritchson Can Take on Odysseus at the Box Office
Christopher Nolan's epic The Odyssey continued to dominate the box office this weekend, prompting rival studios to largely avoid releasing competing films against it. The film's success is now historic in scale, having overtaken Nolan's own Tenet and Batman Begins, and is on pace to surpass The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, underlining just how far ahead it is of the rest of the market. Even Sony is said to be wary of the situation as it prepares to release Spider-Man: Brand New Day the following week, despite that film targeting a different audience.
Only two new releases dared enter cinemas alongside The Odyssey: Hadestown: The Musical, a filmed version of the stage production, and the action film Motor City, starring Alan Ritchson, which opened in around 1,600 US theatres via the Independent Film Company. Ritchson, established as a major streaming star through Reacher, saw Prime Video release new trailers for that show and its spin-off Neagley to coincide with Motor City's release. The film, which premiered at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, has been well received, holding a 65% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with Collider's review praising it as an uneven but largely engaging thrill ride.
In short
- The Odyssey keeps crushing the box office, deterring rival releases
- It has already overtaken Tenet and Batman Begins in Nolan's filmography
- Alan Ritchson's Motor City opened in ~1,600 US theatres to positive reviews
Explained simply
Christopher Nolan's latest epic film, The Odyssey, has become a historic box office success. The film's performance is so dominant that it has already surpassed several of Nolan's previous major releases and is on pace to exceed even his biggest financial successes, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
The film's success has prompted most rival studios to delay their theatrical releases rather than compete directly. Even major studios like Sony have shown caution about opening Spider-Man the following week, despite that film targeting a different audience.
Only two films chose to open alongside The Odyssey: Hadestown: The Musical, a filmed version of the acclaimed stage production, and Motor City, an action film starring Alan Ritchson. Ritchson, best known for the Amazon Prime series Reacher, received additional promotional support as Prime Video released new trailers for Reacher and its spin-off Neagley to coincide with his film's release.
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