Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" sailed straight to the top of the North American box office, bringing home $124.5 million in its opening weekend , the best live action debut of the year, industry estimates showed Sunday.
The latest remake of the nearly 3,000-year-old epic captured another $139 million in overseas sales for a total of $263.5 million, according to Exhibitor Relations, more than paying for the film's reported $250 million price tag.
The film, with a high-voltage cast led by Matt Damon and Anne Hathaway, and produced by Universal, pillaged earlier estimates that forecast an opening weekend haul of less than $100 million.
"Nolan is the only filmmaker working today who could take an ancient story like this, attract a cast as sprawling and accomplished as this, and make it a pop culture event," said veteran industry analyst David A. Gross.
Based on Homer's ancient epic poem, the film tracks hero Odysseus as he faces obstacle after obstacle on his way home from the Trojan War.
It is the first film ever to be shot entirely on IMAX film cameras, as Nolan leaned into filmmaking heritage for this modern adaption of one of humanity's oldest stories.
In distant second place, Disney's "Moana" brought in $19 million in its second week for a total of $82 million in North America and $178 million globally.
Trailing "Moana" was Universal's "Minions & Monsters," which earned another $14.8 million over the weekend domestically for a global three-week total of nearly $357.6 million.
Disney's "Toy Story 5" fell to fourth place in its fifth week, with an estimated domestic weekend take of $13 million, for a global total of nearly $958 million.
"Evil Dead Burn" from Warner Bros. raked in $5 million over the weekend domestically, bringing its domestic total over the last two weeks to more than $24 million or $51 million globally.— AFP
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