Mumbai: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has closed its 70-day uninterrupted IMAX run in India at Rs 96.81 crore, becoming the highest-grossing IMAX release the country has recorded. The film stopped just short of the Rs 100 crore IMAX mark, but the run is historic because it more than doubled what any previous film had achieved in the format.
Released on July 17, The Odyssey was the first feature shot entirely on IMAX 70mm film cameras. That technical hook helped keep it on all 34 IMAX screens in India for more than two months. The run finally ended when Avengers Endgame: Encore took over the premium-format screens.
The premium format carried half the box office
IMAX collections did not merely supplement the film’s India business; they anchored it. Of the Rs 96.81 crore IMAX total, the English version contributed Rs 96.34 crore and the Hindi-dubbed IMAX version added only Rs 47.21 lakh. Across all formats and languages, The Odyssey has earned Rs 191.44 crore in India. That puts IMAX’s share at 50.6% of the total.
The previous IMAX benchmark in India was Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which collected under Rs 50 crore from the format. The Odyssey therefore moves the record significantly higher.
A run that refused to leave
The film’s IMAX streak absorbed real competitive pressure. Spider-Man: Brand New Day arrived two weeks later and still could not end demand. More than a month into the run, The Odyssey was pushed off 33 of India’s 34 IMAX screens for one day to make room for Toxic. After a weak response to that title, Nolan’s film returned the next day.
The weekly IMAX collections tracked in the trade report show a front-loaded but long-tail performance:
- Week 1: Rs 27.98 crore
- Week 2: Rs 22.46 crore
- Week 3: Rs 16.10 crore
- Week 4: Rs 12.11 crore
- Week 5: Rs 6.53 crore
- Week 6: Rs 5.16 crore
- Week 7: Rs 2.32 crore
- Week 8: Rs 2.61 crore
- Week 9: Rs 1.00 crore
- Week 10: Rs 0.55 crore
The first four weeks alone accounted for roughly Rs 78.65 crore, or about 81% of the IMAX run. The later weeks show unusually sticky repeat and late-stage demand for a premium ticket.
The Odyssey is now in its eleventh week and still playing in non-IMAX cinemas in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Pune and Kolkata. The report says occupancy remains healthy enough that a 100-day theatrical run is within reach. There is also one final IMAX date on Sunday, September 27, at Delhi’s PVR Priya at 12:15 pm, described as an isolated screening.
Why it matters
For exhibition and distribution teams, the number is not just a record. It shows that a premium format can contribute more than half of an event film’s India total when the window is protected. That changes planning: IMAX and large-format capacity should be contracted and defended as core inventory, not as a short, token run. The swift return after the Toxic displacement also shows that audience demand can correct a scheduling misstep quickly when the format is treated as part of the film’s identity.
The record may stand for years because the combination of a Nolan film, a true IMAX 70mm shoot and a protected 70-day window is hard to repeat.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com
