When Christopher Nolan’s new movie The Odyssey came out (actually, a year before it came out), film geeks everywhere rushed to buy tickets to see the film in IMAX 70 millimeter. It isn’t just IMAX or just 70mm—it’s the combination of the two that makes the format so specific and rare. This format requires special projectors that both run film horizontally, which is different than other forms of film, and project the image onto an enormous IMAX screen.
On average, IMAX screens span about 59 by 79 feet, at least for traditional film. As such, screenings usually occur in larger-than-normal theaters. But which theaters are equipped to show IMAX 70mm?
The answer is not many. Digital IMAX screens, which some call “LieMAX,” come a dime a dozen. Hundreds of theaters around the U.S. operate these screens with a different aspect ratio than IMAX’s traditional size. However, IMAX screens built for 70mm are hard to come by, with only 25-30 in the U.S. and a handful of others scattered around the rest of the world. It’s even harder to come by the projectors for the format. Only 41 theaters worldwide were able to play The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm, which was an increase from the 30 that played Oppenheimer.
The U.S. locations are scattered across the country. USA Today listed the 25 locations in the country that screened it, with theaters in:
- Arizona: Tempe
- California: Hollywood, Dublin, Irvine, LA, Ontario, Sacramento, San Fransisco, Universal City
- Colorado: Colorado Springs, Denver
- Florida: Fort Lauderdale
- Georgia: Buford
- Illinois: Woodridge
- Indiana: Indianapolis
- Michigan: Grand Rapids
- Nevada: Las Vegas
- New York: New York City, Rochester
- Pennsylvania: King of Prussia
- Rhode Island: Providence
- Tennessee: Chattanooga, Nashville
- Texas: Dallas, San Antonio
That only “covers” 14/50 states. Some dedicated movie buffs went out of their way to road trip to other cities and even other states to see The Odyssey this year.
This is clearly an issue, and a big loss of potential revenue for IMAX. However, the chances that the company will go out of its way to increase the number of 70mm IMAX theaters are slim. Unfortunately, “The problem is they haven’t made new IMAX film projectors in about fifty years,” said IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond. In fact, the company doesn’t even have a complete blueprint for the machines anymore, and many of its parts no longer exist.
The projectors themselves are also huge, and the film they take can weigh over 300 pounds. Mistakes cost more, damaged film is a danger, and there is no way to restart or rewind the film efficiently.
After The Odyssey‘s success and the buzz around Dune: Part Three, who knows what the company has in store for the medium?