As Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey arrives in theaters worldwide on July 17, the demand for screenings in IMAX 70mm has never been higher.
According to Variety, demand is so high that “fans are taking cross-country trips, buying tickets in bulk and more to see the film, with one fan even delaying her pregnancy.”
The new movie is the first feature film ever shot entirely on 1570 IMAX cameras, and you only have to look at the TikTok below to see how much of each shot standard cinemagoers will be missing out on.
Globally, there are only 30-40 theaters that can play Nolan’s original 70mm film, with around 26 in the US and just three in the UK.
We know what cultural and economic impact The Odyssey is set to have in the industry this summer, with estimates predicting that the movie will gross $200 million at the international box office in its opening weekend alone.
So does this mean that we could see an increase in new IMAX theaters being built? IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond confirms that it’s a definite company goal… but the reality isn’t quite so straightforward.
‘We haven’t made new IMAX projectors in about 50 years’
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“There’s certainly more demand; the problem is they haven’t made new IMAX film projectors in about 50 years,” Gelfond told Variety.
“So we retrofit them, rebuild them, and part of our strategy is to see how far we can take it. But certainly, demand-driven, I’d like to see more.”
Obviously, this would be a huge investment for the company. Commercial IMAX projectors range from $300,000 to over $1.2 million USD, depending on whether it is digital, laser, or traditional 70mm film. The latter is going to be at the top end of this range, given its complexity.
Then there’s the risk involved with investing. Just because The Odyssey has such high demand doesn’t mean that other movies that opt to film in the same format in the future will have the same retention level.
Cinemas are struggling enough as it is, which isn’t helped by the fact that streaming services like Netflix are frequently pushing back on giving original movies a theatrical release.
“There is a group of filmmakers who still want theatrical,” Dan Lin, chairman of Netflix Film, told The Hollywood Reporter. “Those are filmmakers that we’ve accepted; we just won’t work with.”
In short, it’s a leap of faith back to a new cinema, despite how much fans are desperate for them. However, if any film can set a new precedent — and bring back the forgotten ways of making projectors — it’s The Odyssey.
I’m quietly keeping my fingers crossed that such passionate interest in returning to cinema in its biggest and best form will mark a turning point. Perhaps just because I can’t get tickets for Nolan’s latest at the BFI IMAX… but while I’m jealous, the fact that screenings are sold out until mid-August is nothing short of astonishing.
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