Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey passes Avatar: The Way of Water as Korea's biggest foreign film ever, at $101.5 million

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is now the highest-grossing international film in South Korean box office history, overtaking James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water with KRW 139.2 billion (about $101.5 million) as of Sunday 11 October 2026, Variety reported. In rupees, that is roughly Rs 28 billion at today's dollar rate. The Universal release is also the biggest Hollywood film ever in Korea, measured in local currency.

The records

• Admissions: 12 million, equal to about 24% of South Korea's population. No other foreign film has passed 10 million there this year.
• Only two Korean films have earned more: this year's The King's Warden (KRW 153.2 billion) and the 2019 comedy Extreme Job (KRW 139.6 billion), which The Odyssey is now within a whisker of.
• Seven straight weekends at No. 1, the longest run for a foreign title in Korea.
• 10 million admissions in 33 days, faster than any non-franchise foreign film, and the first August release of any kind to get there.
• Imax: more admissions on Imax and Dolby screens than any film released in Korea, with Imax shows sold out for five weeks in a row.

It makes Nolan the first director with two non-franchise foreign films above 10 million admissions in Korea; the other is Interstellar.

Why Korea matters

South Korea is one of the world's biggest cinema markets outside the US and China, and Koreans go to the cinema more often per head than almost anyone. When a Hollywood film breaks records there, it usually means strong word of mouth rather than a big opening alone: The Odyssey is in its tenth week on Imax screens and still selling.

What it is

The Odyssey is Nolan's adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic about Odysseus's ten-year journey home after the Trojan War, shot entirely on Imax film cameras. It is his first film since Oppenheimer, which won seven Oscars including best picture and best director in 2024.

Watching it in Pakistan

Cinema listings in Pakistan change week to week, so check your local cinema's site or app for shows in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. For more on what is playing and streaming, see our entertainment desk, including the latest on the Pakistani film Wakhri's international release.