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The Odyssey, on the verge of reaching the 10-million-viewer milestone, has already surpassed or approached the box office revenues of previous 10-million-viewer blockbusters. / Provided by Universal Pictures

The Odyssey, on the verge of reaching the 10-million-viewer milestone, has already surpassed or closely rivaled the gross box office revenues of previous 10-million-admissions blockbusters.

According to the Korean Film Council's integrated computer network for cinema tickets on the 2nd, The Odyssey attracted 113,419 moviegoers the previous day, maintaining the daily box office summit for 28 consecutive days since its release on the 5th of last month and raising its cumulative attendance to 9,124,237. In addition, as of the morning of the 2nd, the film retained an unrivaled top spot in real-time ticket reservations for 31 consecutive days with a booking rate of 54.2 percent (310,229 tickets).

Considering the trajectory of theater attendance and pre-sale figures thus far, barring unexpected developments, The Odyssey is projected to stand tall as the year's second 10-million-admissions film between the 5th and 6th, following The Man Who Lives with the King. In this scenario, it will secure its place as the 35th film overall—spanning both domestic and foreign titles—to surpass 10 million admissions in South Korea. Furthermore, director Christopher Nolan will join an elite pantheon of all-time Hollywood hitmakers, having drawn more than 20 million viewers in South Korea alone across just two titles, including Interstellar (10.38 million viewers) in 2014. To date, James Cameron (Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water) and the Russo Brothers (Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War) are the only foreign filmmakers who have delivered two or more 10-million-admissions blockbusters in the domestic market.

What warrants even greater attention is the scale of box office revenue generated by The Odyssey. Bolstered by setting the all-time attendance record for IMAX theaters (993,885 viewers), where tickets cost roughly 1.5 times more than standard screenings, its ticket earnings have already surpassed or closely trailed earlier 10-million-admissions hits.

As of the 1st of this month, cumulative box office revenue for The Odyssey stood at approximately 101.3 billion won, approaching the figures of films that crossed the 10-million mark after ticket prices rose to current levels (14,000 won for standard weekday screenings) in 2022, such as Exhuma (approximately 115.1 billion won), The Roundup: Punishment (approximately 110.0 billion won), and The Roundup: No Way Out (approximately 104.6 billion won).

A film distribution official commented, "The primary reason why The Odyssey—despite having fewer daily screenings than other titles due to its lengthy running time of 2 hours and 52 minutes—stands shoulder to shoulder with previous 10-million-viewer blockbusters in gross revenue can be traced above all to fervent demand for premium format theaters." The official added, "Given that it continues to sustain high reservation rates even as it enters its second month in theaters, and considering that domestic and foreign releases slated for the September Chuseok holiday do not appear particularly formidable, The Odyssey is expected to sustain its dominant box office run for the foreseeable future."

                                                                                                           Cho Seong-jun