“Christopher Nolan unknowingly creating a black market for movie tickets”: Tickets for “The Odyssey” are selling out a year before its release
The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, is scheduled to be released in U.S. theaters on July 17, 2026. Tickets to the 70mm version of the film to be screened at IMAX theaters across the US and internationally sold out shortly after becoming available July 17, 2025.
Screening times for standard digital showings are forthcoming, but if the response to 70mm pre-sales is any indication, the film will be a blockbuster.
“Christopher Nolan making The Odyssey an immersive experience by making us wait an entire year after buying our tickets like we are Odysseus spending 10 years trying to find his son,” said @JillianChili on X.
Despite sold-out advance ticket sales, Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, is still in production.
The film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus and Tom Holland as Odysseus’s son, Telemachus. The star-studded cast also includes Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Cherlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal.
Ticket pre-sales for The Odyssey were accompanied by the release of a minute-long trailer that played ahead of screenings for Jurassic World Rebirth and Superman.
Nolan preferred to keep the teaser off the internet in order to preserve the cinematic experience of his new film.
Variety reported that it’s rare to “put tickets on sale so far in advance." But they added that anticipation is high for Nolan’s latest cinematic masterpiece. Tickets for standard digital and other IMAX formats of The Odyssey will be available online on Fandango.
But you'll have to wait until “much closer to the film’s release date.” Tickets to the 70mm screenings have already been scooped up, but maybe you can buy one off someone…
Reddit users can’t believe it’s already sold out and worry the marketing strategy will become a trend.
Reddit users chatting about The Odyssey pre-sales on r/boxoffice were surprised that tickets sold out despite the film’s future release date.
“Pre-sales before the trailer. Insane,” wrote u/Exotic-Bobcat-1565, u/ZerksNAHTayan replied, “Sold out too, Nolan’s a phenom.”
“IT'S ALREADY SOLD OUT AND IT DOESN’T EVEN COME OUT IN A YEAR?”
“Kind of hope that this doesn’t catch on too much. Next they’ll be offering pre-booking for Thor 6 in 2029.”
People on X are joking that "Christopher Nolan unknowingly creating a black market for movie tickets."
@jakemorell asked, “@fandango first time you guys choose to allow 'select up to 20 seats' and it’s for one of the most hyped up movie showings ever?”
@SwitchSATX replied, “Sorry but they do this all the time, I’m sure they didn’t think people would actually try to scalp movie ticket seats.”
Sorry but they do this all the time, I’m sure they didn’t think people would actually try to scalp movie ticket seats pic.twitter.com/KB1nMW2IyE
— Isaac Clarke (@SwitchSATX) July 17, 2025
@jakemorell responded, “Right… because no one has ever scalped tickets before in the past… not even Nolan films… for $150+…”
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post “Christopher Nolan unknowingly creating a black market for movie tickets”: Tickets for “The Odyssey” are selling out a year before its release appeared first on The Daily Dot.