‘The Odyssey’ Just Delivered Huge News for Fans Waiting to See It in IMAX 70mm

Christopher Nolan has built an entire mythology around convincing audiences that certain films simply demand to be seen a specific way, and ‘The Odyssey‘ has become the latest proof that his fans are more than willing to go along with it. Since opening earlier this month, the film has turned IMAX 70mm ticket-hunting into something closer to a competitive sport.

That obsession hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. If anything, the demand for Nolan’s sprawling adaptation of Homer’s epic poem has only intensified week over week, forcing exhibitors to keep adjusting their schedules just to keep pace.

The latest adjustment sees IMAX 70mm showings of ‘The Odyssey’ extended through September 16, marking yet another expansion of the film’s run in the ultra-premium format due to what exhibitors are calling massive ongoing demand. That extension pushes the film’s specialty engagement even closer to the point where IMAX’s next scheduled 70mm commitment, Zach Cregger’s ‘Resident Evil,’ is set to take over the format on September 18.

Only 25 theaters in the United States and 41 worldwide are equipped to project the film in true IMAX 70mm, and tickets have been selling out weeks, sometimes months, in advance since the film’s release. Fans in New York and Los Angeles have already found no available seats through August 19, while London’s IMAX 70mm screenings had been sold out through September 10 even before this latest extension was announced.

That scarcity has turned seeing ‘The Odyssey’ in its intended format into something of a pilgrimage for die-hard fans. Moviegoers have reportedly driven hundreds of miles round trip just to catch a 70mm screening, with some even flying internationally to Melbourne, Australia, home to the only IMAX 70mm theater in the Southern Hemisphere.

IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond has been candid about why the company can’t simply flood the market with more 70mm screens to meet the surge in interest. Speaking with CNBC, Gelfond compared the format’s exclusivity to owning a luxury vehicle, saying IMAX 70mm auditoriums are “like a Rolls-Royce,” limited by the finite number of locations that can economically support the format’s specialized equipment.

Part of what’s driving this level of obsession is the film’s technical distinction as the first narrative feature ever shot entirely on IMAX cameras, using specially engineered casings that allowed Nolan to capture both dialogue and action directly in the format. That achievement has led fans and critics alike to treat the 70mm presentation as the only truly authentic way to experience the film.

The demand has also translated directly into box office success, with the film reportedly crossing 600,000,000 dollars globally within its first two weekends of release, according to Variety, with roughly 140,000,000 dollars of that total coming specifically from IMAX screenings. That performance places ‘The Odyssey’ among the year’s biggest earners, with its 70mm exclusivity playing a significant role in driving premium ticket sales.

This isn’t the first time Nolan’s work has sparked this kind of format frenzy, either. His 2023 film ‘Oppenheimer’ saw similar extended runs in IMAX 70mm before eventually ceding its screens, only to return again ahead of that year’s Oscars ceremony, a pattern industry watchers expect ‘The Odyssey’ to follow given its own growing awards buzz.

With screens now locked in through September 16 and demand showing no signs of cooling off, fans hoping to catch ‘The Odyssey’ the way Nolan intended still have a narrow window before those coveted 70mm slots shift over to the next big release.

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