Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' Owns All The IMAX Screens for an Unprecedented Month

The state of theatrical is always under scrutiny these days. Execs want to know that their massive blockbusters are going to make a lot of money to justify their budgets.

Enter IMAX, the biggest and best screens available. They're expanding their presence all over the world, and they are the ideal way to see a movie.

So, why is everyone fighting over the screens?

Let's dive in.

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IMAX Releases Make More Money

Theaters and studios love IMAX not just for the quality of the show but also because they can charge more for the tickets.

Premium movies draw people in for premium prices.

But during the summer blockbuster season, you're constantly fighting over what can be shown in IMAX and how long movies get IMAX screens. We saw this a few years ago, when Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning got bumped out of IMAX after a few weeks, and we know it hurt their box office.

That fear caused a ripple effect, with people trying to guarantee their positions. And the one movie that seems to have thrown its weight around like no other could is Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, which will be the only film shown in the format from July 17th to August 14th, 2026.

It will own an entire month on IMAX, and we'll have to see how that affects its box office. But for now, we know that all the seats for opening night have sold out.

Nolan Dominates IMAX

Now, IMAX is Christopher Nolan's preferred format for all his movies, but for The Odyssey, he actually shot the entire movie on IMAX cameras.

This is the first time that's happened for a commercial feature.

So, I would assume his month-long run has to do with IMAX being excited not just to showcase the movie, but all the cameras as well.

What To Expect In the Future

I think this is a watershed moment for all of Hollywood. Shooting a movie this way eventizes the release, and shows the public that this is something you have to experience in movie theaters.

That's going to drive big numbers for The Odyssey, and having a whole month in IMAX will inflate those numbers with higher ticket prices.

The only real issue I can foresee is that we don't have enough IMAX screens to keep up with demand. But IMAX is doing its part, opening new screens all over the Americas and making new deals.

To me, this indicates that IMAX is the future of movie releases, and I believe it's revolutionizing the way we experience movies theatrically, with huge screens and premium sound.

And that's a way to keep the public coming back for more.

Summing It All Up

Christopher Nolan's IMAX dominance, I think, is actually going to save theatrical in Hollywood. It's giving people a reason to go to the theater, and it's helping build out a format that has a built-in audience that will show up and spend money to see movies on the big screen there.

The more money we put into IMAX, the more screens they can build, and the more people will go to the theaters.

This is the beginning of something.

Let me know what you think in the comments.