The Odyssey vs. FIFA World Cup 2026: will Nolan take it home?

So the summer blockbuster movie season is now in full swing – with Backrooms, Disclosure Day and the latest Star Wars film already in theaters – but this happens to be not just another summer full of new films: it’s also a soccer World Cup summer, which means that cinemas will have to contend for attention and time with TVs at home or in public places until the 19th of July.

It will be interesting to see how interest in the most popular sports event on the planet may or may not influence the summer 2026 box office in general – especially in the US, where it’s mainly held – but, in the meantime, two questions: which summer blockbuster has so far attracted the most interest and what happens if that blockbuster clashes with the FIFA World Cup final?

Yes, in case it was ever in doubt, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is looking more and more like it will be the hottest ticket in US cinemas over the next few months – at least according to data provided by JustWatch, the Web service designed to present information on every film or TV show featured in practically all streaming services operating around the world today, in one place. JustWatch – which The Point Online works with every month on the most popular streaming TV shows and movies – gathered the 10 new films its visitors have shown the most interest in over the last few weeks and Nolan’s epic sits at the number one spot despite its “R” status.

JustWatch did not stop there: as The Odyssey hits theaters on July 17th – the same weekend the FIFA World Cup final takes place – the service run polls in several languages to find out how its visitors plan to watch both events or which of the two they’d be inclined to choose were they forced to. Answers, predictably, varied from country to country as soccer is not as popular in the US as in Europe, but The Odyssey commands such strong a presence in entertainment right now that it gave a major sports event taking place every four years a run for its money.

The obvious answer was also the most popular, yes, as 6 out of 10 people confirmed they’ll watch both the film and the game – most of them at different times, as expected, but almost 2 out of 10 planning to enjoy this as a double feature on Sunday the 19th: first the movie in the afternoon, then the game in the evening. Now that is a rare entertainment option a few large-enough cinema owners might consider offering and selling as a special event at a premium, no?