Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Is About to Vanish From IMAX 70mm, and Tom Cruise Is Already Circling the Screens
Few cinematic formats generate the kind of near-religious devotion that true IMAX 70mm inspires among film purists. The massive film stock, the notoriously heavy cameras, and the handful of specially equipped theaters worldwide have made every 70mm release feel like a genuine event rather than just another trip to the movies. That exclusivity is exactly what has made this summer’s biggest theatrical rollout so hard to walk away from.
Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ turned that format into the entire selling point of its release, and fans have spent months treating tickets to it like collector’s items. Now, that unusually long theatrical run is finally coming to a close, and there is a very specific blockbuster waiting to take its place.
According to industry tracker @GlobalBoxOffice, ‘The Odyssey’ is ending its run in IMAX 70mm auditoriums this coming weekend, with Tom Cruise’s ‘Digger’ set to take over those same screens next week. The film’s extended theatrical window officially closes on September 30, and remaining ticket slots are reportedly heavily sold out as fans scramble for one last chance to see it in true 70mm.
Christopher Nolan’s THE ODYSSEY is ending its run in IMAX 70mm auditoriums this coming weekend.
— Global Box Office (@GlobalBoxOffice) September 22, 2026
Tom Cruise’s DIGGER will take over all IMAX screens next week. pic.twitter.com/kSaBwdMg7h
What made ‘The Odyssey’ such a milestone in the first place is its distinction as the first commercial feature film shot entirely on true 15-perforation, 70mm IMAX cameras, a format known for being heavy, loud, and demanding frequent reloading during production. Nolan’s Greek epic, based on Homer’s story of Odysseus’s journey home after the Trojan War, released on an extremely limited number of screens equipped to project that format, with only 25 theaters in the United States and 41 worldwide capable of showing it as intended.
The film’s ensemble cast reads like a genuine who’s-who of contemporary Hollywood, including Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal. That star power, combined with the novelty of the format itself, helped fuel a theatrical run unlike almost anything else released this year, with tickets for early IMAX 70mm screenings famously going on sale a full year in advance and selling out almost immediately.
Taking over those same IMAX 70mm screens next is ‘Digger,’ the apocalyptic satire from Oscar winner Alejandro González Iñárritu starring Tom Cruise as an ostentatious oil baron named Digger Rockwell. The film has already generated some of the most polarizing early reactions of the fall movie season, with critics split between calling it a “brave and gorgeous art film” and dismissing it as “baffling” and “unpleasant.” Whatever side of that divide viewers land on, ‘Digger’ is now set to inherit some of the most sought-after theatrical real estate in the country.
A film by Christopher Nolan shot entirely with IMAX film cameras. Watch The Odyssey trailer and experience the film in theaters 7 17 26. pic.twitter.com/Lqap9dFI09
— The Odyssey Movie (@odysseymovie) December 22, 2025
There is a certain symmetry to the handoff, with two of the year’s most talked-about, formally ambitious studio releases essentially passing the torch on the same limited network of specialty screens. For exhibitors, it represents a rare stretch where two major awards-adjacent releases have back-to-back claims on the format’s most prized real estate, a situation that speaks to just how competitive the push for prestige theatrical exclusivity has become.
A new trailer for ‘DIGGER’ has been released.
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) September 9, 2026
In theaters October 2. pic.twitter.com/kTEeFZI14E
For Nolan fans who have not yet made it to a 70mm screening, the window is closing fast, with less than two weeks remaining before ‘The Odyssey’ disappears from those auditoriums for good. Given the film’s cultural momentum throughout its run, that closing date is likely to spark one final wave of ticket-buying urgency before Cruise and Iñárritu’s divisive vision takes its place.
Which IMAX 70mm experience are you most excited for?
Have something to add? Let us know in the comments.
