'The Odyssey' surpasses 9 million moviegoers in 27 days, sets all-time IMAX attendance record after 'Avatar 2'

Four years after 'Avatar 2,' foreign film rewrites box office history

'The Odyssey,' the latest film from director Christopher Nolan, surpassed 9 million cumulative moviegoers on its 27th day in theaters, the 31st, setting off a powerful box-office surge. Distributor Universal Pictures said the film reached the milestone at the same pace as director Jang Hang-joon's 'The Man Who Lives With the King.' It is the first foreign film in roughly four years to surpass 9 million viewers in South Korea, since 'Avatar 2' (2022), marking an especially significant milestone for the country's theaters. After reaching 1 million viewers on its fourth day and 8 million on its 24th, 'The Odyssey' has claimed the title of the year's top-grossing foreign film and now stands on the brink of the 10 million moviegoer milestone.

Record 941,000 IMAX viewers mark peak of premium-screen frenzy

The primary driver of the film's box-office performance has unquestionably been IMAX screenings. As of the previous day, more than 941,000 people had seen 'The Odyssey' in IMAX theaters, according to the tally. That surpassed the previous record-holder, 'Avatar 2' (about 929,000 viewers), to become the highest IMAX attendance ever recorded for a film released in South Korea. IMAX accounted for 10.4% of the film's cumulative attendance, far exceeding the premium-format shares of previous blockbusters such as 'Avengers: Endgame' (4.2%). Nolan's determination to shoot the film in its entirety with IMAX film cameras for the first time in movie history appears to have changed the way audiences watch films as well.

'Yong-a Mac' ticket-scalping frenzy triggers ripple effect, prompts law change

'The Odyssey,' a modern reimagining of the epic tale of Odysseus, played by Matt Damon, from Greek mythology, offers an expansive world and stunning audiovisual spectacle. CGV Yongsan I'Park Mall's IMAX theater, known as 'Yong-a Mac' and famed for its perfect 1.43:1 aspect ratio, has been selling out day after day. As demand surged, scalpers began offering tickets for hundreds of thousands of won on secondhand trading platforms. As the situation worsened, CGV imposed a strict limit on the number of tickets each person could reserve. The government then officially announced plans to amend the law to eradicate movie-ticket scalping. A single film has gone beyond becoming a cultural phenomenon and triggered institutional change.