Nolan’s “Odyssey” Tickets Sold Out in Minutes, A Year Before Release
According to cinemadrame news agency, tickets for “The Odyssey,” directed by Christopher Nolan, were pre-sold nearly a year before its release. Variety reported that some of these tickets were priced as high as $200.
Julian Flores, a Universal employee, stated that instead of purchasing tickets from the Fandango platform, he preferred to personally visit an AMC cinema to buy his “Odyssey” ticket.
He said, “When I got to the counter, the employees started laughing as if I was crazy for buying tickets a year in advance. I don’t blame them. Even thinking about what I’m going to do on a Thursday in July 2026 is truly insane.”
However, Flores triumphantly purchased an IMAX 70mm ticket for “The Odyssey” exactly one year before the film’s release, although many others failed to access tickets online due to the overwhelming crowd of moviegoers on websites.
Variety reported that less than 24 hours after sales began, 95% of the available tickets for Nolan’s “Odyssey” were sold, with the vast majority being snapped up in the first hour.
Film tickets are usually pre-sold a few months before release, but Universal took an unprecedented step by selling “Odyssey” tickets exactly one year before the film’s theatrical debut, while filming was still underway.
Nolan, who has always championed cinematic distribution and the IMAX format, played a role in forming the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon two years ago with “Oppenheimer.” At that time, moviegoers would buy tickets for “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie,” two films with no resemblance to each other, and watch them on the same day. However, the audience’s enthusiasm for “The Odyssey” seems to be much deeper.
The film’s story is about Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, and his 10-year journey home after the Trojan War. Robert Pattinson, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Samantha Morton, Himesh Patel, Elliot Page, Bill Irwin, Jesse Garcia, Ryan Hurst, and Will Yun Lee will appear in the film.
Zendaya plays Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war and Odysseus’ guide, while Charlize Theron will appear as Circe, the sorceress who traps Odysseus and his crew on an island. Anne Hathaway, who previously collaborated with Nolan on “Interstellar,” will play Penelope, Odysseus’ wife; Benny Safdie as Agamemnon, the Greek commander in the Trojan War; and Lupita Nyong’o as Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, who plays a key role in his fate.
“The Odyssey” is being filmed entirely with IMAX cameras and is set to be released on July 17, 2026.
