Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has surpassed 10 million admissions in South Korea and set a new sales record for Imax cinemas in the country.
The Universal epic crossed the landmark on Sunday (September 6), 33 days after opening in South Kora on August 5 where it has recorded 10.02 million admissions and $83m to date, according to Kobis, the tracking service operated by the Korean Film Council.
The 10 million figure serves as the Korean film industry’s marker of a major hit – the equivalent of a Hollywood tentpole joining the $1bn club. The only other title to reach the landmark this year is local phenomenon The King’s Warden, which eventually reached 16.9 million admissions.
The Odyssey is the 10th non-Korean film to reach the 10 million marker and the first in four years to achieve the feat after James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way Of Water in 2022. Nolan previously hit the landmark with Interstellar in 2014, making him the first non-Korean filmmaker to top the milestone twice.
The Odyssey has also set a new admissions record for Imax cinemas in Korea. By September 5, it had sold more than 1.1 million tickets in Imax theatres – some 11.3% of its cumulative audience share. It unseated Avatar: The Way Of Water, which previously held the record with 929,000 admissions.
The film’s worldwide total now stands at $1.64bn and is the first Hollywood non-sequel, non-remake to break the billion-dollar barrier internationally since Avatar in 2009. It is also the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, overtaking Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine, which broke the record in 2024.
Weekend takings
Over the three-day weekend (September 4-6), The Odyssey added $5.98m from 698,388 admissions.
Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day held second place in its sixth weekend, grossing $941,571 from 146,678 admissions for a cume of $67.8m from 8.79 million admissions. The superhero film ranks as the third biggest film of 2026 at the country’s box office to date.
Curry Barker’s horror Obsession debuted in third place, earning $1.49m from 185,100 admissions. Released in South Korea by Universal Pictures’ International, it is Focus Features’ highest-grossing film of all time with worldwide takings of $509m.
The highest-ranking local film of the weekend was Kim Mi-jo’s drama The Journey To Gyeongju, which added $359,286 from 17,834 admissions for a cume of $2.1m from 297,594 admissions after two weekends.
Rounding out the top five was Lee Ji-won’s mystery drama Portrait Of A Family, which debuted at number five with $101,591 from 14,419 admissions for a cume of $484,471 from 71,397 admissions since its release on September 2.
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