The Odyssey becomes highest grossing R-rated film of all time
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Christopher Nolan’s epic has achieved $1.35bn at the global box office, overtaking 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine
The Odyssey has overtaken Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest grossing R-rated film of all time.
<a href="https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Odyssey-The-(2026)” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>According to figures compiled by the Numbers, Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic poem has achieved $1.35bn (£990m) at the worldwide box office, compared with the Ryan Reynolds/Hugh Jackman superhero movie, which stands at $1.34bn (£980m) since its release in 2024.
A R-rating as designated by the Motion Picture Association requires anyone under 17 to be accompanied by an adult, and is normally seen as a brake on box office expectations. In its citation, the MPA said The Odyssey was given an R-rating “for violence and some language”.
In the UK, The Odyssey has been rated 15 for “strong violence”, while in Australia it has an M-rating for “mature themes, violence and coarse language”.
Other R-rated features to do well include Nolan’s previous film Oppenheimer, which benefited from the “Barbenheimer” craze to amass $983m worldwide, the Joaquin Phoenix-starring Joker ($1.1bn), and the two standalone Deadpool movies ($782m and $786m respectively).
At the North American box office alone, Deadpool & Wolverine remains ahead, having taken $637m against The Odyssey’s $516m. Interest in Nolan’s film, however, is high in other areas of the world: the UK and Ireland’s total of $92.7m is the second highest, followed by France on $69.3m and Italy on $55.6m. <a href="https://cinemamix360.com/2026/09/25/china-fuels-rush-to-turn-ai-video-into-an-industry/” title=”China fuels rush to turn AI video into an industry”>China has also contributed a significant amount to The Odyssey’s coffers, with a reported $36.3m.
Starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as Telemachus and Anne Hathaway as Penelope, the film is already the most successful of Nolan’s career, having surpassed his previous highest grossing film, 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, which has earned $1.082bn (£805.7m) globally.
However, The Odyssey’s figures could well rise significantly as it is currently in the middle of a box office battle with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which has already taken more than $2bn worldwide, becoming the second fastest film to do so (after Avengers: Endgame in 2019).
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