Marketing campaigns for summer blockbusters have traditionally kicked in around six months before release. But Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ is not playing by these rules.
According to a BBC report, the film is already selling out a year ahead of its 17 July 2026, release date, making the cinematic retelling of Greek king Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War one of the longest pre-sales in cinematic history.
Earlier this month, more than a year in advance of its 17 July general release date, a teaser trailer started showing in cinemas. And then on 17 July itself, in an unprecedented move, tickets went on sale for opening weekend screenings in Imax 70mm – Nolan’s preferred format for all his films. Less than a day after those tickets were made available, most of them were sold out, and scalpers were reselling them for upwards of $200 (£148).
It’s a testament to Nolan’s remarkable pulling power that he, along with Imax and Universal Pictures, has been able to get audiences flocking to buy tickets for a film this far in advance, when it hasn’t even finished shooting yet. And specifically, he’s got fans excited about seeing it in 70mm – a traditional large-scale film stock known for providing a matchless visual experience, which was developed in the 1950s and has been making a comeback in recent years thanks to filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson and Ryan Coogler. Earlier this year, Coogler urged people to see his hit vampire thriller Sinners in this same film gauge – but without the dramatically-timed ticket release to boot.
Indeed, British entertainment journalist Tatyana Arrington thinks that the success of Imax screenings of Sinners may have played into the thinking behind The Odyssey’s unique sales strategy. “I feel like there was such a charge for [Imax screenings of Sinners] that Hollywood couldn’t help but see the success of that,” she tells the BBC. “And with [The Odyssey] being a film that everybody’s looking forward to, [the team behind it must have thought] ‘how can we maximize on that even further?”
This latest strategy slots into Nolan’s ongoing mission to encourage audiences into cinemas by making films into a real event. And The Odyssey has a winning combination – of huge star power and a universally recognised story – that motivates people to make that happen. As Arrington says: “The kids like Zendaya. The older generation likes Matt Damon. This person likes Lupita. There’s something for everybody. A lot of people are into Greek mythology.”
And while The Odyssey ticket rollout has become a success, Arrington says that it’s unlikely that it’s a sign of what’s to come for the Hollywood blockbuster. “I don’t think it’s going to happen for every movie,” she says, “because every movie is just simply not good.”
“The Odyssey” is an epic action fantasy film written, directed, and co-produced by Christopher Nolan. The ensemble cast features Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal, among others.
