‘The Odyssey’ Just Added Another Way to Experience Nolan’s Epic, and It Might Be the Closest Thing to IMAX Most Fans Will Get

Christopher Nolan has turned the theatrical release of ‘The Odyssey’ into something closer to an event tour than a typical movie opening, with fans debating for months over which format actually delivers the experience he intended. Between IMAX 70mm, Dolby Cinema, and a handful of other premium screens, the choices alone have become part of the conversation surrounding the film.

That conversation exists largely because Nolan shot ‘The Odyssey’ entirely with IMAX cameras, making it the first narrative feature to do so. The catch is that only a small number of theaters worldwide, somewhere around 25 to 41, depending on the count, actually have the specialized 70mm IMAX equipment needed to project the film exactly as Nolan intended, leaving most moviegoers to choose between a growing list of alternatives.

‘The Odyssey’ is now also playing in ScreenX, adding another premium option to that already crowded lineup of ways to see the film. ScreenX is a 270-degree panoramic format developed by CJ 4DPlex that extends the image from the main screen onto the side walls of the auditorium, wrapping the picture around the audience rather than confining it to a single frame.

For fans who cannot access one of the rare IMAX 70mm screens, ScreenX offers a different kind of immersive alternative, expanding select scenes across the sides of the theater to create a wraparound sense of scale. Given the scope of Odysseus’s journey across mythic seas and monster-filled coastlines, that kind of panoramic presentation seems tailor-made for a story built around vast, dangerous landscapes.

ScreenX joins a lineup that already includes IMAX Digital, Dolby Cinema, HDR by Barco, and 4DX, the latter of which adds moving seats and environmental effects like wind and water spray timed to on-screen action. Universal Pictures has leaned into that variety as part of the film’s marketing, releasing cast videos breaking down what each format actually offers moviegoers, deciding where to spend their ticket money.

The expanded format rollout comes as ‘The Odyssey’ continues its dominant run at the box office. The film opened to more than 120 million dollars domestically and over 250 million dollars worldwide, marking the biggest global launch of Nolan’s career and easily outpacing early tracking estimates.

More than half of those ticket sales reportedly came from IMAX, other premium large format screens, and 70mm prints combined, underscoring just how much demand exists for seeing the film on the biggest screen possible. That appetite has made premium formats like ScreenX increasingly valuable for theaters trying to capture audiences who missed out on the limited IMAX 70mm run.

With ‘The Odyssey’ continuing to expand across formats even after its opening weekend, the film’s theatrical rollout shows little sign of slowing down. For fans still weighing how to watch Odysseus’s journey home, ScreenX now stands as one more way to get as close to Nolan’s vision as their local theater allows.

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