Update, July 26:
Christopher Nolan just set a new personal record. The Odyssey posted an $87 million second weekend, the director’s best sophomore frame ever, blowing past his previous high of The Dark Knight‘s $75.1 million. The film’s domestic total now stands at $286.3 million after just two weekends, and it’s smooth sailing for now, with no major competition until Spider-Man: Brand New Day swings in to see if it can catch up on July 31.
The real story among the newcomers is Hadestown. The Broadway live-capture film opened to $9.69 million at 1,949 locations — just shy of Disney’s Hamilton, which holds the record for the biggest-ever Broadway capture opening with $10.1 million last September.
Elsewhere, Moana held second with $10.5 million in its third weekend, while Toy Story 5 reclaimed third with $10 million, and Hadestown is now the one jockeying with Minions & Monsters for the rest of the top five, with the animated critters just barely edging it out for fourth (for now — we’ll have to wait for final numbers Monday).
Here’s a snapshot of the July 24-26 weekend box office based on Sunday estimates for North American theaters:
1. The Odyssey — $87 million
2. Moana — $10.5 million
3. Toy Story 5 — $10 million
4. Minions & Monsters — $9.7 million
5. Hadestown: The Musical — $9.6 million
Original Story, July 23:
The Odyssey is holding the line. Christopher Nolan’s epic adaptation of Homer’s epic poem is barreling into its second weekend on a wave of momentum, with trackers projecting a domestic total in the $70-85 million range, a remarkably soft drop for a three-hour epic with an R rating.
The film has been on a tear all week, logging the best Monday of 2026 so far ($18.7 million) and the second-best Tuesday of the year behind Toy Story 5, pushing its five-day domestic haul past $160 million. Reviews have been strong, and audiences are backing that up: The Odyssey holds a 95% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes with an even higher 97% audience score, plus an “A” CinemaScore — the kind of reception that tends to translate into staying power rather than a one-and-done opening.
With no wide studio release daring to go head-to-head with The Odyssey this weekend — Sony’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day doesn’t arrive until next Friday — the film has room to hold well above the usual sophomore-frame drop-off, with some forecasters even floating the possibility it could top the $75.1 million second weekend of Nolan’s own The Dark Knight, still his best sophomore frame to date.
Most of the rest of the top five is expected to be holdovers. Moana should slot in second in its third weekend with an estimated $9-11 million, while Toy Story 5 and Minions & Monsters continue their close race for third and fourth, each projected in the $8-10 million range.
The weekend’s only notable new wide release is Bleecker Street’s filmed version of the Tony-winning Broadway musical Hadestown, shot in London’s West End with its original stars Reeve Carney, André De Shields, Amber Gray, Eva Noblezada, and Patrick Page reprising their roles. Advance sales have already topped Bleecker’s 2023 release of Waitress: The Musical. Bleecker Street’s event cinema division Crosswalk and LD Entertainment will release the live theater capture in 1,944 theaters across the U.S. and Canada.
A couple of other new releases are opening in limited runs, but aren’t expected to factor into the top five. IFC’s Motor City, a (mostly) dialogue-free noir from Potsy Ponciroli starring Alan Ritchson, Shailene Woodley, and Ben Foster, opens in around 1,600 theaters. And Neon has Nicolas Winding Refn’s Cannes noir Her Private Hell, starring Sophie Thatcher and Charles Melton, bowing in roughly 700 locations.
New releases
Hadestown: The Musical
Director: Brett Sullivan
Distributor: Bleecker Street
A musical juxtaposition of the Orpheus/Eurydice and Hades/Persephone myths that examines the way real life can impact our quest for a perfect world. The filmed stage production has a running time of two hours, 21 minutes, and is not rated. At the time of this writing, Hadestown did not have enough reviews for a consensus score on Rotten Tomatoes or Metacritic — however, the reviews submitted were overwhelmingly positive.
Motor City
Director: Potsy Ponciroli
Distributor: IFC Films
In 1970s Detroit, John Miller falls for a local gangster’s girl. In retaliation, the gangster enacts a frame job to send the innocent man to prison. Life ruined, Miller plots a revenge campaign against the man who took his girl away. The crime thriller has a running time of one hour, 43 minutes, and is rated R. Motor City is certified “fresh” with a 64% score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “mixed” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 58%.
Her Private Hell
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Distributor: Neon
A hypnotic, unhinged thriller with an original story promising plenty of glamour, sex, and violence. The sci-fi thriller has a running time of one hour, 49 minutes, and is rated R. Her Private Hell is certified “rotten” with a 49% score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “mixed” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 40%.
Here are Gold Derby’s predicted box-office rankings for the top five over the July 24-26 weekend:
1. The Odyssey — $78 million
2. Moana — $10 million
3. Toy Story 5 — $9 million
4. Minions & Monsters — $8 million
5. Hadestown — $7 million
Check back Sunday for actuals and how they stacked up against our predictions.
2026 box-office hits: Every movie that made more than $100 million
