The Odyssey Is Returning to IMAX Theaters in December Ahead of Awards Season

The Odyssey is returning to theaters in December for one last hoorah before awards season goes into full swing.

Universal has announced that Christopher Nolan's R-rated epic will return to theaters on December 11 in over 1,000 cinemas across the United States and Canada. The film will be coming back to IMAX screens, including ones that support the 70MM IMAX format it was designed for. This is presumably part of a larger campaign to get The Odyssey some awards buzz ahead of the Oscars, and probably earn some extra pocket change for the studio.

The Odyssey has already made $1.8 billion at the box office to become the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. It seems hard to imagine this re-release getting it over the hump for $2 billion, as Dune Part 3 will take over premium format screens on December 18. Avengers: Doomsday will also take up as much attention for movie lovers, if not more. It's unclear if The Odyssey will continue to play on regular screens after those two movies are released, or if this is a limited one-week run.

The Odyssey is a favorite for many of the big prestigious awards, with many expecting a Best Picture nomination, Best Actor for Matt Damon, Best Director for Christopher Nolan, and many more. Whether it scores all of the nominations it's expected to get remains to be seen. It'll also be interesting to see what awards it could win, as Nolan's last film, Oppenheimer, cleaned house at the Oscars in 2023. It's rare for a filmmaker to win big twice in a row, though not unheard of. Alejandro González Iñárritu won Best Director back-to-back years in 2014 and 2015 for Birdman and The Revenant, respectively.

Nevertheless, it'll be a busy time at the movie theater in December with the return of The Odyssey and some of the year's heaviest hitters with Dune and Avengers. For those who aren't interested in venturing out into the cold to see Nolan's latest film again, The Odyssey is also coming to home video later this month.