Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ earned $52 million from IMAX screens worldwide during its opening weekend, accounting for 20 per cent of the film’s global box office debut and setting multiple records for the premium large-format exhibitor, IMAX Corporation has said.

According to the company, the mythological action epic has registered the biggest global and international IMAX opening weekend in comparable markets, excluding China, Japan and South Korea, where the film is yet to be released, a PTI report from Mumbai said yesterday.

In India, the film has emerged as one of the strongest-performing IMAX releases, raking in about Rs 14.6 crore (USD 1.7 million) in weekend box office.

Meanwhile, according to a press statement released on July 20, IMAX said the film also set a record for the company’s pre-sales at $50 million.

The company said ‘The Odyssey’, the first theatrical feature shot entirely with IMAX 70mm film cameras, posted the biggest opening ever for a Nolan film, a Universal Pictures release and a July title on IMAX.

It also recorded IMAX’s second-biggest domestic (US, Canada) opening weekend and its largest international debut in like-for-like markets excluding China, Japan and South Korea.

In North America (USA, Canada), the film generated $29.6 million from 444 IMAX screens, representing a 23.8 percent share of the box office. Internationally, it grossed $22.2 million across 441 IMAX screens in 74 markets for a 16 percent market share, with 26 territories, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Australia, registering their biggest-ever IMAX opening weekends.

IMAX said its 41 IMAX 70mm locations worldwide collected $6.3 million during the weekend, averaging $153,000 per screen.

The company added that many of these locations are already sold out well into the film’s scheduled five-week run.

IMAX Corp Chief Executive Rich Gelfond said the film was among a “rarified group” of blockbuster releases that fully leverage the company’s platform and expressed confidence that strong pre-sales, audience response and the premium format would support a long theatrical run for ‘The Odyssey’.

IMAX said the film will expand to South Korea on August 5, China on August 14 and Japan on September 11.