News Christopher Nolan IMAX The Odyssey

IMAX has revealed why The Odyssey’s huge cinema success is bigger than just one movie

Wait, does this mean more IMAX screens?!

Hebe Hancock
22nd July 2026, 12:15
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Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey has become one of the biggest cinema events in years, and even IMAX says it didn’t see the demand coming.

With tickets for the film’s IMAX 70mm screenings going on sale a full year before release, people snapped them up almost instantly. Around 40 cinemas worldwide are capable of projecting true IMAX 70mm film, and sold-out screenings have become the norm, with even 3am showings filling up.

Universal

Speaking to Fortune, an IMAX spokesperson admitted the scale of interest had gone beyond anything the company anticipated.

“The demand for IMAX 70mm Film has exceeded even our expectations. We’ve never seen demand for IMAX Film on this scale.”

According to IMAX, audiences have travelled huge distances just to see The Odyssey in the premium format, arguing it’s proof that people will still turn out for cinemas when filmmakers create an event that feels genuinely unmissable.

As the spokesperson put it: “Streaming hasn’t weakened our business, it has strengthened our value proposition. Audiences are increasingly looking for the best possible experience when they’re leaving their homes, and that’s exactly where IMAX wins.”

With screenings at almost every IMAX 70mm venue booked out weeks in advance, plenty of people have been asking the obvious question: Why doesn’t IMAX just build more?

Universal

The answer isn’t quite as simple.

IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond recently explained that the company hasn’t manufactured new IMAX film projectors in around 50 years. Instead, existing projectors have to be located, refurbished and rebuilt using ageing parts that are no longer being produced.

Because of that, expanding the number of genuine IMAX 70mm venues isn’t something the company can do overnight. Gelfond said creating additional projectors at a faster pace simply isn’t “practical”.

Directors like Nolan have helped reignite interest in shooting and screening on film, but true IMAX 70mm remains an incredibly rare format. Despite the surge in popularity, it’s still considered a niche cinema experience, and that’s exactly why tickets for The Odyssey have become some of the hardest to get hold of this year.

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Featured image credit: Universal