SMOOTH SAILING

The Odyssey’s Epic Tale of Box Office Domination Continues

Christopher Nolan’s sweeping tale made bank on its second weekend.

Audiences can’t get enough of Christopher Nolan’s take on Homer’s epic, The Odyssey. After an opening weekend that exceeded all expectations, box office receipts for the film’s second weekend were impressively robust. The film pulled in $87 million in its second showing, which is remarkable for any movie, let alone an R-rated one. Ticket sales for the film declined just 30 percent from its $123.5 million debut weekend. According to Variety, most tentpoles that open above $100 million decline by 50 percent or more on subsequent weekends. Next weekend is expected to be a real test of the film’s durability as the next installment in Marvel’s Spiderman franchise, Brand New Day, premieres. The movie also stars two of The Odyssey’s biggest stars, married couple Tom Holland and Zendaya. The box office success of Nolan’s epic will no doubt frustrate Elon Musk and the online armchair critics who cannot stand award-winning A-list actors they don’t like playing fictional characters that include gods and monsters. Musk pledged this week to make his own AI slop version of Homer’s tale, but audiences seem to have decided they’re just fine with the one they already have.