Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" has launched its box office run with $17.6 million from Thursday preview screenings in North America, positioning it for a stronger-than-expected opening weekend after a run of underwhelming releases at cinemas. The Universal Pictures adaptation of Homer's epic, starring Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson and Lupita Nyong'o, is on track to secure the top live-action and R-rated opening of the year, as well as Universal's biggest-ever opening for an R-rated film.

Screening on 3,900 North American screens, the film is projected to take around $50 million on its opening Friday and roughly $117 million across the full weekend, exceeding earlier estimates of $80-100 million; it also carries a $250 million production budget and is expected to open globally around $200 million. It holds a 96 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, Nolan's highest-rated film to date, ahead of The Dark Knight and Memento on 94 percent and Oppenheimer on 93. Notably, it is the first film shot entirely on IMAX cameras, and benefits from an uncontested release slot the following weekend before Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrives on 31 July, though it faces some competition from Sunday's World Cup final.