Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" has become the highest-grossing foreign film released in South Korea this year, surpassing "Spider-Man: Brand New Day" in a box office race that had been running neck and neck for weeks.

As of Sunday, "The Odyssey" had drawn 8,471,082 admissions, according to the Korean Film Council, edging out "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," which had previously held the title of top-earning foreign film of 2026 in the country.

Nolan's film crossed the 8 million mark on Friday, just 24 days after its release — faster than "Spider-Man: Brand New Day," which took 26 days to reach the same milestone — and set the record for the fastest run to 8 million admissions among this year's releases. "The Odyssey" has held the top spot in advance ticket sales for 28 consecutive days, starting two days before its release, and has topped the daily box office every single day since its Aug. 5 debut, a 25-day streak that shows no signs of breaking.

The result continues a pattern for the director in the Korean market, where Nolan's films — including "Oppenheimer," "Interstellar" and "Tenet" — have historically ranked among the strongest-performing Hollywood titles, with "Interstellar" in particular drawing repeat viewers years after its release.

Defying the Korean box office slump

The film's success defies almost every recent trend in the Korean box office. Annual movie attendance remains far below pre-pandemic levels amid the rise of streaming and short-form video, leaving even top multiplex chains like CJ CGV in the red in the first half of this year.

Despite this slump, a nearly three-hour-long movie is drawing crowds, largely thanks to people in their 20s and 30s, who usually prefer short video clips. According to CGV booking data on Sunday, moviegoers in their 30s accounted for 26 percent of advance ticket sales for "The Odyssey" — the largest share among all age groups — followed by those in their 20s at 24 percent and those in their 40s at 23 percent.

Experts say the trend shows young audiences are not necessarily against long movies; they simply need a clear reason to choose them. For "The Odyssey," familiarity plays a big role. Many Koreans in their 20s and 30s grew up reading comic book adaptations of the story from Greek mythology, which sold over 10 million copies, giving them an easy connection to the material.

Positive response to the film's IMAX version has also fueled the craze. A major IMAX theater in Seoul has become a top destination for fans, and the popularity of the IMAX screenings has caused a severe scalping problem, with tickets originally priced at around 20,000 won ($15) being resold for nearly 120,000 won. The premium-format pull mirrors the way Nolan's previous films were marketed on large-format presentations, which the director has long championed as central to the theatrical experience.

Attention shifts to what comes next

With "The Odyssey" now sitting atop the chart, attention in the box office has begun shifting toward what comes next. "Assassin(s)," a Korean historical thriller centered on the 1974 assassination of first lady Yuk Young-soo, has already claimed the top spot in advance ticket sales among upcoming Korean releases, its distributor Hive Media Corp said Saturday. This signals that domestic films may finally get a chance to reclaim some of the box office territory Hollywood has dominated for most of the summer — a shift that local distributors and theater operators, both under financial strain, would welcome after months of Hollywood-led charts.