Universal Pictures will return Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey to around 1,000 screens in the US and Canada from 11 December, including IMAX and IMAX 70mm auditoriums, for a limited run that starts more than three weeks after the film reaches homes. Deadline and TheWrap reported the plan on 5 November 2026. The Odyssey goes on premium video on demand, 4K and DVD on 17 November.
Key facts
- Re-release: from 11 December 2026 on about 1,000 screens in the US and Canada, IMAX and IMAX 70mm included, for a limited time
- Home release first: premium VOD, 4K and DVD on 17 November 2026
- Box office to date: $1.8bn worldwide, of which $1.175bn international and $626m in North America (Deadline)
- IMAX share: TheWrap puts the film’s IMAX and IMAX 70mm gross at a record $550m
- Studio context: Universal was the first studio past $5bn worldwide in 2026, and past $3bn internationally
Back on the big screen, after the living room
The order is the unusual part. A studio reissue normally comes years after a first run, or ahead of an anniversary. Here the theatrical return follows the home-entertainment window by 24 days, and it lands in the heart of the holiday corridor: TheWrap notes the 11 December date is the weekend before Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three open. Neither outlet says how many of the 1,000 screens will be IMAX, or whether the run has a fixed end date.
The Odyssey opened on 17 July and topped the worldwide chart for two weekends. Its 172-minute running time and its status as the first feature shot entirely with IMAX cameras have made the premium formats central to its run. Its $626m in North America leaves it second among Universal releases there, behind Jurassic World’s $653.4m from 2015.
The records Universal is selling
Deadline lists the film as Nolan’s highest-grossing title, Universal’s biggest release of all time worldwide and IMAX’s biggest film ever. It is the highest-grossing R-rated film globally, a mark TheWrap says it took from Deadpool & Wolverine. It also ranks tenth among MPA-member releases of all time worldwide, and second for 2026 behind Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Abroad, it recently passed Furious 7 as Universal’s highest-grossing international release, and it is still playing in every format outside North America.
Why it matters
Windows are the live argument in exhibition this week. On IMAX’s third-quarter call on 5 November, chief executive Rich Gelfond said he did not understand why Regal and Cinemark will not book Netflix’s The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, which opens a 27-day exclusive theatrical run on 29 November, Deadline reported. A studio title coming back to cinemas after home release tests the reverse case: whether premium-format demand survives the film being available at home.
For background, see FilmBunch’s reports on The Odyssey passing $1.17bn outside North America, IMAX’s record third quarter and AMC Theatres’ record quarterly revenue. More under Distribution & Streaming.
Our reading
Universal is treating the IMAX 70mm prints as an event in their own right rather than as part of a sequential window. The figure to watch is the December weekend gross, and whether exhibitors that hold firm on Netflix’s short windows book a title that has already been on sale at home.
Sources
- Deadline, ‘The Odyssey’ Venturing Back Into Cinemas After Mid-November In-Home Release (5 November 2026; 1,000 screens incl. IMAX and IMAX 70mm from 11 Dec; PVOD/4K/DVD 17 Nov; $1.8bn global, $1.175bn international, $626m domestic; records list; Universal $5bn/$3bn)
- TheWrap, ‘The Odyssey’ Will Return to Theaters, Including Imax 70mm, in December (5 November 2026; 1,000 theatres US and Canada, limited time; $550m from IMAX; timing before Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three; R-rated record passing Deadpool & Wolverine)
- Deadline, Imax CEO Wades Into ‘Cliff Booth’ Debate (5 November 2026; Gelfond on Netflix’s 27-day IMAX window and Regal/Cinemark refusal)