Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Jul 14

Nolan Fans Cross Continents for 41 IMAX 1570 Odyssey Screens as Melbourne Sells 30,000 Tickets

Updated

Updated · The Guardian · Jul 14

Nolan Fans Cross Continents for 41 IMAX 1570 Odyssey Screens as Melbourne Sells 30,000 Tickets

Q: Beyond Nolan, does large-format film have a future, or is this the format's spectacular last stand?

Large-format film is unlikely to disappear, but its future is as a premium niche, not a mainstream format. “The Odyssey” shows there is still real demand for 15/70 IMAX when a filmmaker gives audiences a reason to seek it out. Nolan’s influence matters, but the format’s survival does not rest on him alone. IMAX, Kodak, Panavision and FotoKem have already committed to building a new generation of IMAX film cameras, with quieter designs and updated materials. That is a meaningful industrial investment, not the behavior of a company preparing a funeral. The case for the format is clear. True 15/70 film still offers image quality that many filmmakers and projection specialists argue digital cannot fully match: extremely high resolution, a distinctive analog texture and a sense of scale that turns a screening into an event. That helps cinemas sell premium tickets at a time when theaters increasingly depend on experiences people cannot replicate at home. But the limits are just as clear. Only a tiny number of theaters can project 15/70 film, prints are expensive and heavy, cameras are cumbersome, and digital IMAX and other premium large formats are far easier to deploy. For most audiences, the future of “IMAX” will remain digital. So this is not a spectacular last stand. It is a consolidation into a rarefied format, sustained by a handful of major directors, specialized venues and audiences willing to travel and pay for the highest-end version of theatrical cinema.

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 14

Fans from Germany, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia and Los Angeles are traveling to Melbourne to watch The Odyssey on IMAX 1570, one of just 41 cinemas worldwide that can project Nolan’s preferred format.
Melbourne has become a focal point because it is the only southern-hemisphere venue with a 1570 print; its reel runs 17km, weighs 240kg, and plays on the world’s largest 1.43:1 screen.
Demand has been unusually strong: the cinema sold 17,000 tickets in under 24 hours when sales opened a year ago and has now passed 30,000, making The Odyssey its eighth-biggest film before release.
The rush reflects Nolan’s push for large-format film. The Odyssey is the first feature shot entirely on 1570 cameras, and projectionists say viewers increasingly seek out the warmer, higher-resolution analog experience over digital.
That enthusiasm has helped revive the niche format: the number of 1570-capable cinemas has risen to 41 from 30 since Oppenheimer, while more filmmakers are again shooting on film.