Nolan's 'The Odyssey' debuts at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, his best-reviewed film ever

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The Odyssey hits theaters this week on July 17, but the review embargo has lifted just a couple of days ahead of that, and whatever happens at the box office, it's clear director Christopher Nolan has another critical success on his hands. In fact, if The Odyssey's Rotten Tomatoes debut score of 98% holds steady in the coming days and weeks, it'll be Nolan's highest rated movie ever on the platform, a stunning achievement previously jointly held by his 2008 superhero opus, The Dark Knight, and the beloved 2000 thriller, Memento.

The Odyssey, based on Homer's epic poem, follows Odysseus' decades-long trek home to Ithaca in the aftermath of the Trojan War. It stars an ensemble cast led by Matt Damon, Robert Pattinson, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Tom Holland, Elliot Page, Jon Bernthal, and Mia Goth, with a reported budget of $250 million. Nolan and the cast and crew are likely celebrating a big moment as the director's most ambitious project is paying off in universally positive critical reviews.

GamesRadar+'s The Odyssey review awards the movie a perfect 5/5 stars and reads: "A grounded, spiritual, uncanny rendering of Greek myth, The Odyssey is a dazzling epic and a major film-of-the-year contender. Post-Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan continues to operate at the height of his filmmaking powers."

The Odyssey is also tracking for a massive box office debut , with reports indicating an opening of $85 million to $100 million domestically in the US and $110 million overseas. If those figures prove accurate, that'll be even bigger than Oppenheimer's 181.1 million opening from 2023 and Nolan's biggest non-Batman box office premiere.

Exclusive: Christopher Nolan chose to make The Odyssey next after Oppenheimer because it was a "thrilling opportunity" that had "never been done in modern cinema."