Only 41 cinemas worldwide can screen Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in the format it was shot in.
Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey opened on July 17, and much of the conversation around it has centred on a single technical detail: the format it is projected in. That format is IMAX 70mm film, and Nolan and the cast have pointed audiences towards it as the presentation the film was built for.
Cinemas have added showings at 2am and 6am to meet demand. Viewers have travelled across state lines to reach a screen. As of July 23, seats in New York and Los Angeles were sold out through August 19, and London through September 10.
IMAX’s official participating-theatre list carries 41 locations. Twenty five are in the United States, nine in Canada, three in the United Kingdom, and one each in Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic and France. There is not a single one anywhere in the Middle East, Asia or Africa.
Why Only 41 IMAX 70mm Screens Exist Worldwide
New IMAX film projectors have not been manufactured in decades, IMAX chief executive Richard Gelfond has said. Existing machines have to be restored and retrofitted before a cinema can run them, which is why the company cannot convert digital IMAX auditoriums into film houses at short notice.
Speaking to CNBC, Gelfond compared an IMAX 70mm auditorium to a Rolls-Royce and said only a finite number of locations can support the economics of running one. The prints add a second constraint. The reels are physically enormous and need specialised handling and trained projectionists.
The format differs mechanically from digital IMAX. IMAX 70mm film uses a 15 perforation frame that runs horizontally through the projector, producing a frame several times larger than standard 35mm and an expanded 1.43:1 aspect ratio that fills the screen from top to bottom. Most digital IMAX screens present at 1.90:1, which crops the image, though some dual laser IMAX venues can show the full 1.43:1 ratio.
Standard 70mm is a third thing again. It runs vertically and generally presents at 2.20:1, so it is a genuine film print but not the full IMAX frame.
Britain has only three cinemas capable of IMAX 70mm, two of them in London. LADbible, given access to the projection booth at Vue Manchester, reported on the scale of the reels required.
The Odyssey IMAX 70mm Tickets Sold Out Weeks in Advance
The Odyssey is the first narrative feature shot entirely on IMAX cameras. The production used specially engineered sound dampening casings, which allowed Nolan to record dialogue on cameras normally too loud for quiet scenes, Fortune reported. The shoot also introduced a newly built rig called the Keighley camera, named after David Keighley, IMAX’s longtime chief quality officer. The finished film runs 172 minutes and is rated R.
Tickets for selected showings went on sale a full year before release. Demand still outpaced supply.
The opening weekend figures put that in context. Variety reported the film took $123.5 million domestically and $263.8 million worldwide, the largest opening of Nolan’s career, with IMAX screens accounting for $51.8 million of that total, a company record. A collectible popcorn holder shaped like an IMAX camera sold more than 10,000 units, with some batches clearing within minutes.
The 25 American screens are unevenly distributed, Axios reported. Five sit in the Los Angeles area and three more in northern California, while audiences in Kansas City and New Orleans face drives of around 500 miles to reach the nearest one.
How Long The Odyssey Stays on IMAX 70mm Screens
IMAX’s next commitment in the format is Dune: Part Three, which opens on December 18, so the company is not contractually required to release the screens before that date. IMAX has indicated it is unlikely the film will run without interruption until December, and more likely that it returns to the format several times before the year ends. No single worldwide end date has been announced, and runs will vary by location.
Oppenheimer followed a similar pattern in 2023. Its 70mm run was extended twice, the screens changed over in September, and the film returned to the format the following February ahead of the Oscars.
For audiences outside the 41 locations, the film is showing in laser IMAX, standard 70mm, Dolby Cinema and other premium large formats. Gelfond has said IMAX is examining ways to expand capacity.
Every IMAX 70mm cinema showing The Odyssey
United States
- Tempe, Arizona: Harkins Arizona Mills
- Dublin, California: Regal Hacienda Crossings
- Hollywood, California: TCL Chinese Theatres
- Irvine, California: Regal Irvine Spectrum
- Los Angeles, California: Regal LA Live
- Ontario, California: Regal Edwards Ontario Palace
- Sacramento, California: Esquire IMAX Theatre
- San Francisco, California: AMC Metreon 16
- Universal City, California: Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood
- Colorado Springs, Colorado: Cinemark Carefree Circle
- Denver, Colorado: Regal Colorado Center
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida: AutoNation IMAX at the Museum of Discovery and Science
- Buford, Georgia: Regal Mall of Georgia
- Woodridge, Illinois: Cinemark Seven Bridges
- Indianapolis, Indiana: IMAX Theater at the Indiana State Museum
- Grand Rapids, Michigan: Celebration Cinema Grand Rapids North
- Las Vegas, Nevada: Brenden Palms 14
- New York, New York: AMC Lincoln Square 13
- Rochester, New York: Cinemark Tinseltown Rochester
- King of Prussia, Pennsylvania: Regal UA King of Prussia
- Providence, Rhode Island: Apple Cinemas Providence Place
- Chattanooga, Tennessee: IMAX Theater at the Tennessee Aquarium
- Nashville, Tennessee: Regal Opry Mills
- Dallas, Texas: Cinemark Dallas
- San Antonio, Texas: AMC Rivercenter 11
Canada
- Calgary, Alberta: Scotiabank Chinook
- Edmonton, Alberta: Scotiabank Edmonton
- Langley, British Columbia: Cineplex Cinemas Langley
- Richmond, British Columbia: SilverCity Riverport Cinemas
- Halifax, Nova Scotia: Cineplex Cinemas Bayers Lake
- Mississauga, Ontario: Cineplex Cinemas Mississauga
- Vaughan, Ontario: Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan
- Montreal, Quebec: Cinéma Banque Scotia Montréal
- Regina, Saskatchewan: Kramer IMAX at the Saskatchewan Science Centre
United Kingdom
- London: BFI IMAX
- London: Science Museum IMAX
- Manchester: Vue Manchester Printworks
Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, France
- Melbourne, Australia: IMAX Melbourne
- Brussels, Belgium: Kinepolis Brussels
- Prague, Czech Republic: Cinema City IMAX Prague
- Montpellier, France: Pathé Odysseum
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