عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Storms the Box Office with a $264.1 Million Global Debut

(L-R) English actor Tom Holland, British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan and US actor Matt Damon pose upon arrival to attend the red carpet for the premiere of their film "The Odyssey" in Mumbai on July 11, 2026. (AFP)
(L-R) English actor Tom Holland, British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan and US actor Matt Damon pose upon arrival to attend the red carpet for the premiere of their film "The Odyssey" in Mumbai on July 11, 2026. (AFP)
TT
TT

Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Storms the Box Office with a $264.1 Million Global Debut

(L-R) English actor Tom Holland, British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan and US actor Matt Damon pose upon arrival to attend the red carpet for the premiere of their film "The Odyssey" in Mumbai on July 11, 2026. (AFP)
(L-R) English actor Tom Holland, British-American filmmaker Christopher Nolan and US actor Matt Damon pose upon arrival to attend the red carpet for the premiere of their film "The Odyssey" in Mumbai on July 11, 2026. (AFP)

Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” launched with an estimated $124.5 million in domestic ticket sales and another $139.6 million from overseas, notching an even better debut than “Oppenheimer” and marking the filmmaker’s best opening since 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises.”

Nolan flexed his singular box-office might with a global debut unlike any other. Few filmmakers alive could pull off a starry, big-budget adaptation of Homer’s epic poem. But in a Hollywood where intellectual property rights rule most hits, Nolan turned one of the world’s oldest works of literature into an unlikely summer blockbuster.

The Universal production was no small gamble on Nolan, coming off the 2023 best picture-winning “Oppenheimer.” With a production budget of $250 million, it’s among the most expensive R-rated movies ever made. Universal is spending some $125 million to market it.

But no behind-the-camera name turns out audiences more than Nolan's. So great was the hype on “The Odyssey” that IMAX put tickets on sale for some 70 mm showtimes a full year in advance. To satisfy the extraordinary demand for Nolan's preferred format, IMAX 70 mm, some theaters added midnight and 3 a.m. screenings — and sold them out.

Billed as Nolan’s first feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras, the format drove a huge slice of ticket sales. That included $29.6 million domestically on IMAX and $51.8 million globally, leading to the company's best weekend ever. IMAX is dedicating its screens entirely to “The Odyssey” for three weeks. Though only 41 IMAX screens can screen “The Odyssey” in 70 mm, they accounted for $6.3 million in ticket sales.

Since the pandemic, Nolan has been at the forefront of reviving cinemas. His “Tenet” was one of the first big releases to wade back into theaters in 2020. Three years later, “Oppenheimer” and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” combined to create arguably the movies’ signature moment of the decade. “Oppenheimer” ultimately grossed $975 million worldwide.

“The Odyssey” arrived in theaters during Hollywood’s best summer since 2019. Ticket sales are running about 10% ahead of last year, according to Rentrak. The industry is expecting the first $10 billion year at the domestic box office since the pandemic.

The only question for “The Odyssey” will be how front-loaded it is, given that many moviegoers have had this weekend circled for months. The film faced no new-release competition over the weekend, and it won’t next weekend, either. IMAX said that presales for the movie's second weekend would rank among their 10 best presales, proof that many moviegoers are waiting to see the film in their preferred format.

The next movie to pose any competition, ironically, also stars Tom Holland and Zendaya: Sony’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” on July 31.

“The Odyssey” stars Matt Damon as Odysseus and features Holland as his son, Telemachus; Anne Hathaway as Penelope; Zendaya as Athena; Robert Pattinson as the suitor Antinous and Charlize Theron as the sea nymph Calypso.

Nolan’s casting of “The Odyssey,” including Lupita Nyong’o as Helen and Elliot Page as a soldier, was controversial to some conservative commentators. Elon Musk called Nolan a “coward” over Nyong’o’s casting.

But that criticism had little to no effect on “The Odyssey” becoming one of the big-screen cultural events of the year. Reviews (95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) are among the best of Nolan’s career. Audiences gave it an “A” CinemaScore.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Kenneth Branagh Examines the Scars of Iraq War in 'Atonement'

Kenneth Branagh, Hiam Abbass and Boyd Holbrook star in 'Atonement', which examines the long tail of conflict. Rodin Eckenroth / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Kenneth Branagh, Hiam Abbass and Boyd Holbrook star in 'Atonement', which examines the long tail of conflict. Rodin Eckenroth / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
TT
TT

Kenneth Branagh Examines the Scars of Iraq War in 'Atonement'

Kenneth Branagh, Hiam Abbass and Boyd Holbrook star in 'Atonement', which examines the long tail of conflict. Rodin Eckenroth / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
Kenneth Branagh, Hiam Abbass and Boyd Holbrook star in 'Atonement', which examines the long tail of conflict. Rodin Eckenroth / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Screenwriter Reed Van Dyk was leafing through a magazine one day in 2012 when he came across an article about the human cost of war that stopped him in his tracks.

He knew that one day he would have to bring it to the screen, but he did not feel he had the leverage in Hollywood to tackle such a weighty issue.

"I wasn't in a position to make a film about this back then," he told AFP.

That all changed after his short film "DeKalb Elementary" won critical acclaim and earned an Oscar nomination in 2018, so he went back to the New Yorker article and began work on "Atonement," which goes on limited release on Friday.

The film, based on the magazine piece, begins in 2003, when the lives of an Iraqi family and a war veteran became tragically intertwined in a Baghdad under fire.

Mariam Khachaturian, played by Hiam Abbass, and her family are trying to reach their home when their two vehicles are fired on by a Marine unit that believed it was under threat.

Three passengers die in the shooting, including Mariam's husband.

Eventually, the widow tries to leave the war behind by moving to the United States with her daughter.

Marine Lou D'Alessandro (Boyd Holbrook) also wants to move on, but the consequences of what he was involved in continue to haunt him.

The only way he feels he might be able to exorcise his demons is to seek out Mariam.

"I was so touched by this piece of writing and the story and all these characters and the way that their lives had intersected very tragically, and then by some miracle, they all intersect again a decade later," Van Dyk said.

In the movie, Lou and Mariam sit face-to-face in California, brought together by the efforts of Michael Reid (Kenneth Branagh), a journalist who had interviewed both of them about the war.

"I was very drawn to the idea of that complexity, and very drawn to the idea of being this witness at this remarkable meeting over years with two people trying to process the enormous pain and loss of very different kinds," Branagh told AFP on the sidelines of the Toronto International Film Festival.

"And then the really compelling drama of this immensely difficult thing, meeting again to feel, discuss, forget, forgive," said the British actor, whose character is inspired by journalist Dexter Filkins, author of the original article.

- 'A new context' -

"Atonement" arrives in US theaters days after the US formally ended its decades-long mission in Iraq, but with the country again at war -- this time with Iran.

"I was pulled to write about and explore these trio of people, and so that was in spite of the fact that you know it wasn't a story that headlines were echoing at the time of my writing," Van Dyk said.

But "as we're making the film, the world has sort of backslid into war everywhere. So it brings a new context to all of our work."

For Holbrook ("Narcos"), portraying the tormented Lou was "a fantastic experience," but also an intimidating one.

"The preparation for a film like this is everything, and for me it was life altering," he told AFP.

"It was something that I had to really find and discover in myself, the empathy and the courage that [his character] Lou had."

Abbass ("Blade Runner 2049" and "Succession") said she had wanted desperately to do justice to Mariam.

"I wanted to take her place and shout out my feelings and my anger towards why this should happen," she said.

"Why on Earth we keep going all the time, causing these pains to people, whoever they are, whatever they are, whatever nationality they come from, whatever conflict we're talking about."

Entertainment

Paramount Gets Court Green Light on Warner Bros Deal, Names Mattel’s Kreiz Co-CEO

The Paramount Studio lot in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, September 17, 2026. (Reuters)
The Paramount Studio lot in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, September 17, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Paramount Gets Court Green Light on Warner Bros Deal, Names Mattel’s Kreiz Co-CEO

The Paramount Studio lot in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, September 17, 2026. (Reuters)
The Paramount Studio lot in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, September 17, 2026. (Reuters)

A US judge entered an order on Wednesday allowing Paramount to close its $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros, ending a months-long holdup, as the company named Mattel's Ynon Kreiz as co-CEO to help run the combined business.

US District Court Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín approved a Sept. 21 settlement with a California-led group of 12 states that had sued to block one of the largest media mergers in history, saying it would create a media behemoth ‌capable of driving up ‌film and TV prices.

Under the settlement, the combined ‌company ⁠must release at least ⁠30 films a year in US theaters for five years and spend an extra $300 million a year on US production. Falling short of the film quota could force it to sell Miramax.

It must also negotiate basic cable deals separately for the two companies' channels and create a board of journalists to oversee CBS News and CNN.

Groups opposed to the merger objected strongly to the settlement, with some ⁠urging the court to reject it.

Martínez-Olguín called the deal ‌a "reasonable factual and legal resolution," saying objectors' ‌hopes for the decree "to reach farther – to achieve more – do not rise to the level ‌of legal violations" warranting rejection.

A spokesperson for the California Department of Justice ‌said the settlement "resolves our antitrust concerns..., protects competition and consumer choice, and centers the needs, concerns, and futures of California workers".

The companies said in a late Wednesday statement that the deal is expected to close on October 6.

The companies also settled a Writers Guild ‌of America antitrust lawsuit, agreeing to pay $17.5 million to the guild's health fund and maintain WGA staffing levels at CBS ⁠News for five ⁠years.

MATTEL'S KREIZ TO BECOME CO-CEO

Separately, Paramount said Mattel CEO Ynon Kreiz will join on October 5 and become co-CEO when the deal closes alongside chairman and CEO David Ellison, running day-to-day operations and integration.

Kreiz, Mattel's CEO since 2018, turned the toymaker's brands into films, TV shows and games, delivering "Barbie," Warner Bros' highest-grossing film ever.

The hire gives Ellison, whose background is on the creative side, a seasoned operator who steered Mattel through the pandemic and tariffs, as Paramount aims for more than $6 billion in savings from the merger.

Before Mattel, he spent much of his career in TV and digital media, co-founding Fox Kids Europe and running "Big Brother" producer Endemol.

He later ran YouTube network Maker Studios, which he sold to Disney in 2014.

Entertainment

Woman Accused of Firing at Home of Rihanna Indicted on Attempted Murder with Assault Weapon

Rihanna appears at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on Nov. 3, 2025. (AP)
Rihanna appears at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on Nov. 3, 2025. (AP)
TT
TT

Woman Accused of Firing at Home of Rihanna Indicted on Attempted Murder with Assault Weapon

Rihanna appears at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on Nov. 3, 2025. (AP)
Rihanna appears at the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York on Nov. 3, 2025. (AP)

A Florida woman accused of driving across the country to fire a rifle at Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s home, hitting a trailer the celebrity couple was inside and a nursery where their kids were, has been indicted by a grand jury on 14 felony counts including attempted murder.

The indictment against 36-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz of Orlando was unsealed Wednesday by a Los Angeles County judge.

Ortiz, appearing in court wearing yellow jail clothes, spoke only to her attorney, who entered a not guilty plea for her. The judge then ordered her held on $2.6 million bail.

The move came a day after another judge ruled that Ortiz is mentally competent to stand trial. The secret grand jury proceedings were held as Ortiz was undergoing months of psychiatric evaluation. The jurors returned their indictment June 18, but it was kept under wraps for three months until the judge ruled on her competency. Now, a case that appeared stalled — possibly permanently — is on a fast track to trial.

No one was injured in the March 8 shooting. Authorities allege Ortiz drove a Tesla up to the gates of the Beverly Hills-area property of the singing superstar and her rap star partner, A$AP Rocky, pointed an AR-15 style rifle out the window and fired at least 20 rounds toward the property and the neighboring house.

“This is a person who wanted to kill Rihanna,” Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott said outside court. “Everyone else was collateral damage.”

Bullets tore through the Airstream trailer, according to a police report. Shots also struck the wall of their home's nursery, where their three small children were with their nanny. Rihanna’s mother and several staffers also were in the home, and authorities say she also fired shots toward a neighbor's house.

Both Rihanna and her mother, Monica Fenty, testified to the grand jury, as did Hollywood agent Tracey Jacobs, who was listed among the victims from the property in the indictment.

Their testimony remains under seal but will become public in about two weeks unless the defense seeks to keep them secret and the judge agrees.

Rihanna told investigators just after the shooting that she “suddenly heard approximately ten loud sounds like something banging on metal,” and pulled Rocky out of a bed and onto the ground. She said she opened curtains and saw bullet marks in the windshield right in front of where she had been standing.

Deputy Public Defender Derek Dillman, Ortiz's attorney, did not speak to reporters outside the courtroom, and a message seeking comment from the public defender's office on the indictment was not immediately answered. Other than her not guilty pleas, her lawyers have not publicly addressed the charges, saying only that they would work to defend her rights.

Investigators said that on the day of her arrest, Ortiz told them: “I wasn’t attempting murder.”

Ortiz was charged with very similar counts in March. The new indictment supersedes those charges. The secret grand jury proceedings allow prosecutors to skip California’s preliminary hearing process, where evidence must be presented publicly to see if a trial is merited.

The indictment also charges Ortiz with 10 counts of assault with an assault weapon — one for each of the people on the two properties — and three counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or camper. It names the couple's three children Rza, Riot and Rocki, all under age 5, as victims. The assault weapon counts carry a stiffer sentence than the original charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

She could get life in prison if convicted of all counts.

Reports have been sealed on the psychiatric evaluations that paused the case shortly after it began, and there was no public discussion of the details of her mental state. Prosecutors have not said anything about a motive or cited any connection between Rihanna and Ortiz, a longtime licensed speech pathologist. But in videos posted on Facebook and YouTube in the months before the shooting, Ortiz made increasingly angry comments on Rihanna that sometimes took the form of threats, at one point calling her a “devil.”

A nine-time Grammy Award winner, Rihanna has had 14 No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including “We Found Love,” “Work,” “Umbrella” and “Disturbia.”