Christopher Nolan Fans Are Rearranging Their Entire Lives Just to See ‘The Odyssey’ in 70mm Imax
Christopher Nolan has spent two decades turning moviegoing into an event, and his latest epic seems to be pushing that devotion to new extremes. Every frame of ‘The Odyssey’ was shot using Imax cameras, marking the first time a feature film has been captured entirely in that format. The adaptation of Homer’s ancient saga follows Odysseus on his long, dangerous journey home from Troy, and it has already become one of the most anticipated releases of the year.
The cast is stacked with major names, including Matt Damon as Odysseus alongside Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Lupita Nyong’o, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal and John Leguizamo. Nolan wrote and directed the film while producing it with his wife, Emma Thomas. With that much star power and a director known for demanding the biggest possible canvas, expectations for the theatrical rollout have been sky high for months.
That anticipation has translated into genuinely wild behavior from fans chasing the rarest version of the release, the true Imax 70mm print. According to a post shared by Variety, one devoted moviegoer even pushed back her own family planning around the film’s release, telling the outlet, “We have to wait a few months. Otherwise, it’s going to be too close to ‘The Odyssey.'” That fan, 29-year-old tech editor Amber Connaghan, is also driving three hours from the California desert just to catch the film in the format on opening day.
She is far from alone in her dedication. Simon James, a 33-year-old New York City attorney, bought 18 tickets to Imax 70mm screenings of ‘The Odyssey’ at AMC Lincoln Square across the film’s first three weeks in theaters. “Chris Nolan is my favorite director, and I am a big appreciator of his films,” James said in the post. “I really believe him when he says that the best way to see a Chris Nolan film is in an Imax theater.”
Other fans are treating the release like a pilgrimage. Tim McHugh, a 33-year-old healthcare consultant, is flying from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles specifically to watch ‘The Odyssey’ in Imax 70mm at Universal City Walk, telling Variety that the format has been a bucket list item since he saw footage from the ‘Sinners’ 70mm screenings. Meanwhile, Dallas-based software advisor Hogan Shay plans to see the film twice in Imax 70mm within a two week span, calling Nolan “the biggest director of our lifetime.”
Part of the frenzy comes down to sheer scarcity. ‘The Odyssey’ is expected to dominate the box office this weekend, but only around 30 theaters worldwide are currently equipped to project true Imax 70mm film, which has made securing a seat feel like its own odyssey. Ticketing demand was intense enough that AMC’s app briefly paused sales and Fandango’s site slowed under the traffic when additional Imax and premium screenings went on sale.
Nolan has built his reputation on convincing audiences that scale matters, and with ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ behind him, it seems his fans are more than willing to prove it. Whether it is skipping a pregnancy timeline, booking a cross-country flight, or refreshing a crashed ticketing app, the lengths people are going to for ‘The Odyssey’ say as much about Nolan’s cultural pull as the film itself. How far would you personally go to catch Odysseus’s journey home on the biggest screen possible?
