Even with its global theatrical release still a month away, Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated sci-fi epic The Odyssey has triggered an unprecedented box-office stampede in the United Kingdom, obliterating all previous pre-sale records.

The British Film Institute (BFI) IMAX in central London—the UK’s largest cinema screen—confirmed on Wednesday that it sold a staggering 28,000 tickets within the first 24 hours of going live. The opening-day haul raked in £750,000 ($1 million) in gross ticket sales, a historic high for a single venue.

The frenzy has forced the iconic London venue to plan a grueling, round-the-clock screening schedule for its opening weekend. Four prime weekend slots had already sold out a full year in advance, including a highly anticipated special midnight screening that will kick off the non-stop weekend marathons.

Doubling 'Dune' and Quadrupling 'Oppenheimer'

The scale of The Odyssey's box office momentum has caught industry analysts by surprise, leaving previous blockbusters far behind in its wake.

Trade data reveals that the film’s first-day takings at the BFI IMAX more than doubled the previous record set by Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two, which collected £366,000 ($490,000) during its first 24 hours on sale.

More remarkably, it nearly quadrupled the initial numbers of Nolan’s own Oscar-winning 2023 biographical drama, Oppenheimer, which brought in £254,000 ($340,000) in the same timeframe.

This British box-office surge mirrors the chaotic ticket rollout witnessed across the Atlantic last year. When Premium Large Format (PLF) tickets debuted in the United States in 2025—also an unprecedented full year ahead of schedule—major ticketing platforms crashed under the sheer volume of traffic, leaving fans stuck in digital queues for over an hour.

The US pre-sales generated a massive $3.4 million from 150,000 tickets within a single day. The scarcity has since fueled a rampant black market, with desperate moviegoers spotting scalper listings on eBay fetching as much as $1,500 per ticket for opening-week IMAX screenings.

A Historic Technical First

Beyond the director's massive cult following, The Odyssey is drawing intense interest from cinephiles due to its technical specifications. Industry insiders confirm it is the first feature film in cinematic history to be shot entirely on IMAX 70mm cameras, rather than just selecting specific sequences for the expanded format.

Universal Pictures has backed the project with a lavish ensemble cast, locking in top-tier Hollywood talent including Matt Damon, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong’o, and Charlize Theron.

With the global release locked for July 17, exhibitors are bracing for an extended summer run that could reshape the post-pandemic premium format box office landscape.