With little in the way of new releases, although Bleecker Street’s Hadestown triumph gets its flowers and then some, most of this week’s chatter is still about Chris Nolan’s The Odyssey.

Nate Rice, of Box Office Watch, returns to help Scott Mendelson, Lisa Laman and Jeremy Fuster dig into a record-small -27% second-weekend drop (for a $100 million-plus opener) and a record-high $289 million ten-day total (for a film opening below $125 million).

Among the topics of discourse…

* Everyone’s favorite performance in The Odyssey

* Hadestown kicks box office ass for Bleecker Street

*Spider-Man: Brand New Day won’t stop The Odyssey’s momentum

* Sony’s smart marketing choices should prevent Spider-Man 4 from succumbing to “superhero indifference

* Whether or not word of The Cinerama Dome (and the Arclight multiplex) reopening in 2028 is more than just wishful thinking

* Hollywood should continue Proshot theatrical releases

* Fun with math about how high Nolan’s film might soar in the global box office

* An unusual number of $1 billion-plus grossers and studios distributing them

* The SDCC MCU news, including Ryan Gosling starring in a Shawn Levy-directed Ghost Rider, David Johnnson headlining Ryan Coogler’s third Black Panther movie and all of the Avengers: Doomsday scuttlebutt.

* Opening weekend predictions for Spider-Man: Brand New Day

* And more!

Recommended Reading/Listening…

* Scott Mendelson wonders whether Blumhouse (now, of course, Blumhouse Atomic Monster) is getting its “cool chillers for cool kids” mojo back.

* Jeremy Fuster discusses how Chris Nolan has used his capital to reignite interest and excitement over comparatively old-school filmmaking techniques.

* Lisa Laman digs into why the Proshot version of Hadestown is so successful at emphasizing what worked so damn well for the stage show.

* Ryan Scott’s latest kinda-sorta “Tales from the Box Office” focuses on Lionsgate’s mostly-forgotten sci-fi Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland-starring flop Chaos Walking.

* Max Deering’s latest Action For Everyone episode is a deep dive into what I consider the best of Michael Bay’s Transformers movies: 2014’s Age of Extinction.

If you like what you hear…

Please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at Asktheboxofficepod@gmail.com.

* Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News

* Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap

* Lisa Laman - Land of the Nerds, Dallas Observer, The Spool

* Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm, Fangoria and Inverse

* Max Deering - Fangoria and Action For Everyone

* Nate Rice - Box Office Theory

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