Jul 16, 2026
There are moviegoers who buy a ticket, moviegoers who splurge on popcorn and then there are Christopher Nolan fans — the ones crossing continents and paying hundreds of dollars for what they believe is the definitive way to see a film.
Adam Ye, a 28-year-old who lives in Tokyo, is one of them. After securing tickets to see ‘The Odyssey’ at London’s British Film Institute, he’ll spend roughly £1,300 ($1,755) on airfare, accommodations and admission for what he calls a once-in-a-generation cinematic experience.
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“I quickly snatched the Nolan-approved seats right in the middle, on opening day!” Ye told Business Insider.
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He’s hardly alone. A Business Insider analysis found resale tickets for ‘The Odyssey’ averaged $165 on eBay through July 10, with one opening-night ticket in Los Angeles selling for $600.
Why fans are paying a premium
‘The Odyssey’ is shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest movie releases. At Midwestern theater chain Studio C, advance ticket sales are already outpacing those for Nolan’s Oscar-winning ‘Oppenheimer.’ President Mathew Hooper told Business Insider that presales are running 132% higher than they were at the same point before Oppenheimer hit theaters.
Much of the excitement stems from Christopher Nolan’s track record, the film’s star-studded cast and Homer’s enduring epic. It’s also the first feature filmed entirely with IMAX cameras, making premium IMAX and 70-millimeter screenings especially sought after among cinephiles.
The intense demand has made buying tickets a competition of its own. Many of those premium showings sold out in about an hour, while opening-weekend seats at New York’s AMC Lincoln Square quickly appeared on resale sites with asking prices nearing $1,000 for a pair, according to Cultured.
“I made sure to have three devices ready to go — a laptop, my work phone, and my personal cellphone,” Caleb Hilton, a 34-year-old movie fan from Washington, D.C., told Business Insider. After spending roughly two hours in online queues, he eventually secured two sets of tickets.
By comparison, the average U.S. movie ticket costs $16.30 in 2026, with prices ranging from $12.73 to $25.24 depending on the state. For many ‘The Odyssey’ fans, however, seeing Nolan’s latest on the biggest screens means paying several times the typical price.
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Spending on experiences
The willingness to splurge reflects a broader shift in how consumers are spending their discretionary income. Mastercard’s 2026 Experience Economy Report found that 88% of UK consumers are willing to cut spending on material purchases in favor of experiences, while spending on experiences has now overtaken discretionary retail spending.
“People do not remember what they bought last spring,” David McKillips, CEO of Topgolf International told USA Today. “They remember where they were, who they were with, and how it made them feel. We are now in the business of making memories.”
For Nolan fans, that philosophy appears to extend to the movie theater. Whether it’s traveling overseas, paying resale prices or securing a coveted IMAX screening, many see the expense as an investment in an experience rather than simply the cost of admission.
If you’re hoping to see ‘The Odyssey’ without blowing your entertainment budget, your best bet is to buy tickets directly from theaters as soon as new showtimes are released. If those sell out, consider a weekday showing or a nearby theater with premium screens before turning to resale sites, where prices can quickly soar. And if seeing the film is a priority, it may be worth setting aside a line in your monthly budget for discretionary spending so you know exactly how much you’re comfortable paying before the bidding wars begin.
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based staff reporter at Moneywise covering personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, and her work has appeared on platforms including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Apple News.
