Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey crosses Rs 100 crore in India

Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" has crossed Rs 100 crore at the Indian box office within a week of release, becoming the biggest Hollywood film of the year. Starring Matt Damon, the epic follows Odysseus's perilous journey home after the Trojan War

New Delhi: Filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” has earned over Rs 100 crore at the domestic box office in its first week of release, emerging as the biggest Hollywood film of the year.

Featuring Matt Damon as Odysseus, Tom Holland as Telemachus, Zendaya as Athena, Robert Pattinson as Antinous, Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Charlize Theron as Calypso, among others, the film was released globally on July 17.

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The film earned over Rs 70 crore in India during its opening weekend and became another Christopher Nolan film to cross the Rs 100 crore mark at the domestic box office after “Oppenheimer”, according to a press release.

“A journey is measured by distance, not by how it begins. ‘The Odyssey’s’ opening told us India was ready to show up. What has followed since, audiences returning day after day to fill every cinema screen available, tells us something more valuable. This is trust, not a moment. Crossing Rs 100 crore within a week is a number,” Denzil Dias, vice president and managing director, Warner Bros Pictures India, said in a statement.

“What it represents is simpler. A packed house of strangers, gasping and cheering together, choosing the one place a story this size was built to be seen. That is what a cinema screen gives audiences that nothing else can,” he added.

“The Odyssey” revolves around Greek King Odysseus (played by Damon) and his perilous 10-year journey home after the Trojan War. Beset by vengeful gods, sea monsters and enchantresses, he fights to reunite with his wife, Penelope (Hathaway), and son, Telemachus (Holland).

It is produced by Syncopy Inc and distributed by Universal Pictures.

Actors Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo and Travis Scott, among others, complete the film’s cast. They play Menelaus, the King of Sparta, Eumaeus and a bard, respectively.

The film is based on Homer’s ancient Greek poem, which has been adapted for the screen several times. In 1954, the Italian-American co-production “Ulysses” featured actor Kirk Douglas as the Greek hero. Released in 2000, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” was a loose, satirical adaptation directed by the Coen Brothers.

“The Odyssey” (1997) was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and broadcast as a two-part miniseries.

It starred Armand Assante as the Greek king and Greta Scacchi as Penelope, and followed Odysseus’s perilous 10-year journey home after the Trojan War.