Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Is Turning Paris Streets Into 500-Meter-Long Lines, and the Reason Is All About Film

Christopher Nolan has never been shy about his devotion to shooting on film, and that devotion is now translating into a viewing experience audiences are willing to wait hours for. As ‘The Odyssey’ rolls out across the globe, the director’s insistence on shooting entirely with IMAX 65mm cameras is turning ordinary movie nights into full-blown events.

Nowhere is that more obvious than in Paris, where one particular cinema has become the center of attention for cinephiles chasing the purest possible version of the film. The city’s historic Le Grand Rex has spent weeks promoting itself as the only Parisian theater capable of projecting ‘The Odyssey’ in true 70mm, and the hype appears to be paying off in a very literal way.

Footage circulating online shows a line of moviegoers stretching more than 500 meters down the street outside Le Grand Rex, all waiting for a chance to see the film exactly as Nolan intended. The clip, captured outside the venue, shows the crowd snaking around the block ahead of a screening advertised as bringing 2,700 spectators together to experience ‘The Odyssey’ on 70mm film.

That kind of turnout is a striking visual reminder of just how much anticipation has built around this release. ‘The Odyssey’ marks Nolan’s first film since his Oscar sweep with ‘Oppenheimer,’ and fans have clearly been waiting for another excuse to experience one of his movies on the biggest possible format.

Part of what makes the Paris lines so notable is the scale of what Le Grand Rex had to do to make this screening possible in the first place. The historic venue reportedly had to construct a temporary projection booth within its classified auditorium just to accommodate the massive 70mm format, an undertaking that speaks to how rare true film projection has become even in major cities.

Le Grand Rex also unveiled an exclusive 70mm collector ticket for ‘The Odyssey,’ with every attendee at a 70mm screening receiving one starting July 15, which only added to the sense that this was less a routine trip to the movies and more a must-attend cultural moment. Limited formats paired with physical keepsakes tend to create exactly this kind of urgency among dedicated fans.

The venue’s marketing leaned hard into that exclusivity too, positioning itself as the sole Parisian cinema equipped to show the film in the format Nolan actually shot it in. For a director whose fanbase treats format choices as part of the storytelling itself, that kind of exclusivity was always going to draw a crowd.

Paris is far from the only city seeing this kind of reaction. ‘The Odyssey’ has been rolling out with premium format screenings drawing enthusiastic crowds internationally, part of a broader wave of buzz that has followed the film since its earliest festival reactions.

The movie also arrives with genuinely strong critical backing behind it, having debuted to some of the best reviews of Nolan’s career. That combination of critical acclaim and format exclusivity seems to be exactly what is pulling people out of their homes and into lines that wrap around city blocks.

For longtime fans of Nolan’s work, this kind of theatrical devotion is nothing new. The filmmaker has spent years championing practical effects and physical film over digital alternatives, and ‘The Odyssey’ looks to be the ultimate test case for whether audiences will still show up in person for that experience.

Scenes like the one outside Le Grand Rex offer a reassuring signal for anyone worried about the future of theatrical moviegoing. In an era dominated by streaming and at-home viewing, hundreds of people were willing to stand outside for a considerable stretch just to see a film projected the old-fashioned way.

It also underscores just how much Nolan’s brand has become synonymous with event cinema. Few directors working today can inspire this kind of grassroots enthusiasm purely on the promise of format and presentation, and ‘The Odyssey’ seems to be proving that appetite is still very much alive.

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