Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' projected to open with over $200 million worldwide

Universal Pictures anticipates that Christopher Nolan's new epic, "The Odyssey," will open with a domestic box-office take of $85 million to $100 million and generate roughly $110 million in its first weekend abroad, pushing the worldwide total past $200 million. The film, shot for IMAX 70 mm, will debut in the United States on Thursday with 2 p.m. previews and will be shown on more than 22,700 screens across 73 territories.

The cast includes Matt Damon, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Jon Bernthal and Lupita Nyong’o. Advance ticket sales are reported to be strong, with estimates of $30 million to $40 million already secured.

Universal plans to release the movie in the same markets that launched Nolan's "Oppenheimer," adding day-and-date openings in Italy and Greece, while releases in Korea, Japan and China are scheduled for later dates. The studio notes that "Oppenheimer" opened on 17,500 overseas screens and earned $98.7 million internationally, for a global start of $181.1 million.

Industry observers point to Nolan's track record of high multiples on opening weekends—"Oppenheimer" achieved a 4-times multiple domestically, while "Dunkirk" and "Inception" posted 3.75-times and 4.66-times multiples respectively. The film has already generated positive word of mouth among early viewers, though no audience scores are yet available on Rotten Tomatoes.

The release coincides with a relatively quiet weekend for competing studio-wide releases, and the studio expects strong performance in key markets such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy and India, where "Oppenheimer" previously performed well.