BFI Imax Odyssey boom sends fans back to Homer's poem
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, shot entirely on Imax 70mm and screening in that format at venues including BFI Imax in London, has smashed UK opening records and driven print sales of Homer's poem up 700% in a week as fans race back to the ancient source.
The three-hour epic opened to $264m (£198m) worldwide, including $52m (£39m) on giant Imax screens, the BBC reports. UK takings hit £12.6m — the second-biggest opening weekend of 2026 so far, behind Toy Story 5 — and the film set a UK record for Imax opening-weekend receipts.
For more streaming and big-screen alerts, follow BlasterPost's Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
Key Takeaways
- UK print sales of The Odyssey rose 700% last week versus the same period in 2025, with nearly 8,000 copies sold.
- Spotify listening for Odyssey audiobooks jumped about 680% since the film's Friday release, mostly among Gen Z and millennials.
- Only three UK venues — BFI Imax and the Science Museum in London, plus Printworks in Manchester — are projecting the film on 70mm Imax film.
- Nolan has cited Emily Wilson's 2017 translation as a source; Waterstones reports "phenomenal" demand for that edition.
- Wilson welcomed the surge but said the film packs in action while missing themes essential to the poem.
Why are Odyssey fans returning to Homer's poem?
Almost 8,000 print copies sold in the UK last week, lifting 2026 sales to 47,000 — a 95% year-on-year rise, according to NielsenIQ BookData. Waterstones chief operating officer Kate Skipper said stocks of Wilson's translation are "flying out as soon as they land in the shops."
Sir Stephen Fry's audiobook is now in Spotify's UK top 10, while Sir Ian McKellen's narration has entered the US chart. Variety reported that more than 80% of the new Spotify listeners are Gen Z or millennials.
Wilson told the Associated Press she wants to "celebrate" wider awareness of the poem, even as she felt Nolan was "trying to pack everything in while missing themes that were essential."
Where can UK audiences see The Odyssey on Imax 70mm?
The Odyssey is the first theatrical release shot entirely with Imax 70mm film cameras. The UK has more than 50 Imax screens, but only BFI Imax and the Science Museum in London, and Printworks in Manchester, are showing it on 70mm film projectors.
Critic Anna Smith called the format a "heightened experience," while Metro's Tori Brazier said anyone lucky enough to book Imax 70mm would not regret it — though tickets cost more than a standard cinema seat.
What did Nolan change from the original Odyssey?
The Guardian notes Nolan trims gods, the Phaeacians and Penelope's famous bed test, among other episodes, while adding a wooden-horse sequence drawn partly from Virgil. Athena (Zendaya) appears mainly as a vision to Odysseus (Matt Damon), not as Homer's fully active Olympian.
The Paris Review unlocked archive excerpts of Wilson's and Daniel Mendelsohn's translations to mark the film's release, underscoring how the screen version is sending readers back to the text. Stars include Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, Lupita Nyong'o and Samantha Morton.