IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond discusses the record-breaking theatrical debut of the Christopher Nolan film on 'The Claman Countdown.
What Richard Gelfond said
Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.
Richard Gelfond, CEO of IMAX, reported that 'The Odyssey' set a record global opening weekend at $52 million, with Monday grosses of $12 million, double the traditional 10% of weekend, indicating strong legs. He described a frenzy for tickets, with sold-out midnight, 3 a.m., and 6 a.m. shows. Gelfond detailed how Christopher Nolan requested 10-15 camera improvements in February 2024, which IMAX engineers delivered by August, leading to the film's success. He mentioned another film using the technology, 'June 3', releasing at Christmas, with advance sellouts. On 70mm screens, he confirmed 40-41 exist, noting expansion is slow due to high costs, with prints at $50,000 each. He expects the movie to boost demand for IMAX film releases but doubts it will alter Hollywood's course. He declined to comment on an AI-made Odyssey, and noted London shows are sold out through weeks seven and eight.
Key takeaways
Monday global gross for 'The Odyssey' was $12 million, double the traditional 10% of weekend, indicating strong legs.
IMAX has 40-41 70mm screens, with expansion limited by high costs and print prices of $50,000 each.
Christopher Nolan requested 10-15 camera improvements in February 2024, delivered by August, enabling the film.
Another film using the new cameras, 'June 3', releases at Christmas and has sold out shows months in advance.
London shows for 'The Odyssey' are sold out through weeks seven and eight, extending beyond the three-week exclusivity.
0:05What did the IMAX screens do yesterday, the first day of the week, Monday?
1:54... the movie, it wouldn't be anything but IMAX is a booster to that movie and the frenzy over having to see it in IMAX and wherever you go, people are talking about it, debating Odysseus and the best one then dial, was she real, and illusion?
2:33Let's go back to Monday, what showing times were sold out?
4:16Are you in the position to pick up the phone and say just get it done, I don't care what it takes?
4:34What other films are we going to see this technology and?
5:19I understand 40 or 41, 70 millimeters screens out there in the world, is that correct?
6:28... Attorney General of California and other attorneys general say they will not produce as much content, is it possible this movie may change that trajectory because it's been done so well and is getting such great response in the theater?
7:23Are you worried those consolidations will put out less content good for IMAX?
8:13We have the director when he did this other movie, what do you say to that?
Thank you very much. A journey worthy of the Greek gods. Christopher Nolan not only proving ancient hero still has blockbuster size hips but also smashing records for IMAX. We know the technology and movie screen giant reported a record-breaking global opening weekend for the film that delivered $52 million with first-ever theatrical release shot entirely with IMAX 70-millimeter film cameras but wait until you hear what's been happening since opening weekend as of yesterday. They shot 2.1 million feet of IMAX film to make The Odyssey and collaborated with IMAX to develop next-generation camera and apparently not only is it working in the opening weekend but on a Monday, no less, wait until you hear the numbers. IMAX CEO, Rich, we know opening weekend was incredible. What did the IMAX screens do yesterday, the first day of the week, Monday?
It set a record for opening weekend at $52 million and Monday is traditionally 10% of the weekend, the formula you use. This Monday was double that, 20% of the weekend and we did $12 million globally Monday. We know in real time how it's tracking and the numbers for Tuesday look similar to Monday numbers and I think people will be surprised. They always say does the movie have legs? We will find out. We already found out, the movie has legs.
Legs, arms, parachute strapped to its back and zooming away.
A cultural phenomenon and that's where IMAX comes in. Chris Nolan made a brilliant movie and without the movie, it wouldn't be anything but IMAX is a booster to that movie and the frenzy over having to see it in IMAX and wherever you go, people are talking about it, debating Odysseus and the best one then dial, was she real, and illusion?
Midnight, 3:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m. People I have not heard from in years were saying remember me? I'm in town. Called to say hello. Do you have an extra pair of tickets? It's a frenzy, no other word to put it.
The new technology for these cameras. You have had IMAX cameras before and Chris Nolan shot the incredible movie in those cameras and Oppenheimer, some of it with that but talk about the tweaks to the camera because of special requests.
It's more than tweaks and special requests. Chris called me a year ago in February, 2024 and said I want to make a film in IMAX but the camera is not quiet enough, quiet enough, I need more rejection and he gave us a list of ten to fifteen things and he said I need these done, I will make a movie on IMAX so our team in Canada did a fantastic job, engineers and optical scientists so by August we already showed how it looked and he gave us the green light. In October, Chris was in the field and L.A. testing it and bringing in boats and helicopters and we met the challenge and it wasn't easy to do, it took a lot of resources but it worked in the financial results and aesthetic results speak for themselves.
IMAX film has become more ubiquitous, but one that's filming with the cameras coming out Christmas is June 3. A well-known filmmaker, did fantastic and they've sold out a lot of shows months and months in advance so what is it unique is when we have had breakouts before, they were not followed closely but I am confident June 3 will break out as well.
Gelfond, R. (2026, July 22). 'The Odyssey' debuts with 'CULTURAL PHENOMENON' numbers, IMAX CEO says [Interview transcript]. Fox Business. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1120899/
MLA
Richard Gelfond. "'The Odyssey' debuts with 'CULTURAL PHENOMENON' numbers, IMAX CEO says." Fox Business, 22 Jul. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1120899/.
BibTeX
@misc{gelfond2026_1120899,
author = {Richard Gelfond},
title = {'The Odyssey' debuts with 'CULTURAL PHENOMENON' numbers, IMAX CEO says},
howpublished = {Interview transcript, Fox Business. CEOInterviews.AI},
year = {2026},
month = {jul},
url = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/1120899/},
note = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}
