Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey does the thing almost no Hollywood title manages — it opens at the top of the chart in India and the United States on the same weekend. Shot entirely on IMAX film, it's swallowing the premium screens in both markets and leaving everyone else to fight for what's left.
Why it matters for the Indian board: when a tentpole this size takes every IMAX and most general screens, the holdovers don't lose to a better film — they lose the real estate. That's the story under the Odyssey wave this weekend.
The format is the movie.
The Odyssey is the first film in history shot entirely on IMAX film cameras. That single fact is why premium-format demand — the IMAX and PLF sellouts driving both the India and US numbers — isn't hype. On the biggest screens you literally see more of the movie. Here's the map of formats, to scale.
| Format | Ratio | Why it matters for Odyssey |
|---|---|---|
| IMAX 70mm 15-perf film · the pinnacle | 1.43:1 | The whole frame. 15 perfs run horizontally through the projector; largest, highest-res image, floor-to-ceiling. Only 41 screens worldwide. |
| IMAX Digital dual-laser | 1.90:1 | Taller than scope, far more available — this is what most "IMAX" tickets are, including nearly all of India's. |
| 70mm 5-perf | 2.20:1 | Classic large-format film (Dunkirk-style) — gorgeous grain and depth, wider and shorter than IMAX. |
| Dolby Cinema Dolby Vision + Atmos | 2.39:1 | Best-in-class sound and black levels, laser HDR, recliners — a scope frame, so you trade vertical picture for contrast and comfort. |
| 35mm the "classic four-perf" | 2.39:1 | Traditional photochemical scope. Warm and filmic; the smallest of the film formats on offer here. |
Nolan takes the screens. Comedy holds the family.
The Odyssey leads India outright. Behind it, only Dhamaal 4 has a genuinely different audience to protect — the rest are running out of room.
| Film | Cume / Net | Read |
|---|---|---|
| The Odyssey Universal · Hollywood · debut | ₹15–17.5 Cr D1 | #1 · India |
| Dhamaal 4 Ajay Devgn · Hindi · wk 2 | ₹83 Cr net | HOLD · family play |
| Welcome to the Jungle Akshay Kumar · Hindi · wk 4 | ~₹128 Cr net | WINDING DOWN |
| Mysaa Rashmika Mandanna · pan-India · debut | New | NEW · under Odyssey |
| Alpha Alia Bhatt, Sharvari · Hindi · wk 3 | ~₹55 Cr net | FADING |
Read: Dhamaal 4 is the smart hold — a broad family-comedy crowd that doesn't overlap much with Nolan's premium-format audience, and it's already sitting on ₹83 Cr net through five days after a ₹64 Cr opening weekend (the biggest in franchise history, third-biggest Bollywood open of 2026 behind Dhurandhar 2 and Border 2). Welcome to the Jungle crossed ₹125 Cr but is now trading its fourth-week screens to the Odyssey and should settle around a ₹135–138 Cr lifetime. Alpha — the weakest Spyverse opener YRF has had — is effectively done. Mysaa arrives into the toughest possible slot; a period actioner counter-programming a Nolan epic is a tall order, and we're keeping our number conservative until Day 1 lands.
How our calls landed.
Our headline India call vs actual. US and holdover rows show the trade/tracking consensus we tracked against.
| Film | Our / Street Call | Actual | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dhamaal 4 India · our headline call (D1) | ₹13–19 Cr | ₹13.75 Cr | ON CALL |
| Dhamaal 4 opening weekend follow-through | — | ₹64.35 Cr | LEGGED UP |
| Moana US · street tracking | $45–50M | $43.1M | SOFT · under |
| Evil Dead Burn US · street tracking | $25–30M | $13.7M | MISS · way under |
Read: our Dhamaal 4 Day 1 call (₹13–19 Cr) landed almost dead-on at ₹13.75 Cr — bottom of the band, then a strong weekend jump validated the "legs" thesis. Across the water, the two US newcomers both undershot: Moana came in soft with mixed reviews, and Evil Dead Burn was the weekend's real face-plant at $13.7M against $25–30M tracking, roughly 44% under its predecessor despite a banner year for horror.
Same story, stateside.
The Odyssey is the only wide release of the frame — it wins #1 unchallenged and everyone else drops. Projections below.
| Film | This Wknd (proj.) | Standing |
|---|---|---|
| The Odyssey Universal · debut | $115–118M | #1 |
| Moana wk 2 | ~$19M | #2 |
| Minions & Monsters wk 3 | $10–14.5M | #3–4 |
| Toy Story 5 wk 4 · crossed $400M | $11–13M | #3–4 |
| Evil Dead Burn wk 2 | ~$5M | #5 |
Watch: the only live sub-plot behind Nolan is Toy Story 5 finally edging past Minions & Monsters for #3 in frame four — a small flag that cements Pixar's sequel as the family champion of the summer.
Two theatrical hits jump to digital.
The week's OTT slate is led by a ₹100 Cr Telugu blockbuster and a Dharma romance, alongside a stacked international lineup.
- Maa Inti Bangaaram Samantha Ruth Prabhu · ₹100 Cr+ WW theatrical (rel. Jun 16)JioHotstarJul 17
- Chand Mera Dil Ananya Panday, Lakshya · Dharma · Hindi romanceOTTJul 17
- Transfer Trimurthulu Telugu action-drama, post-theatricalZEE5Jul 17
- Raktanchal · Season 3 UP crime saga · streams freeAmazon MX PlayerJul 16
- Wuthering Heights Margot Robbie, Jacob ElordiJioHotstar / HBO MaxJul 13
- Ready or Not 2: Here I Come Samara Weaving · horror-comedy sequelNetflixJul 16
- The East Palace Korean fantasy thrillerNetflixJul 17
- Heartstopper Forever feature-length finaleNetflixJul 17
- Ride or Die Hannah Waddingham, Octavia SpencerPrime VideoJul 15
- Texas Chainsaw franchise revivalLionsgate PlayJul 18