Theaters in my city are literally charging inflated prices for Odyssey just because it's a Nolan movie and has the IMAX branding.
I'd much rather pay that to actually watch it in 70mm.
I'm confused by the furniture store loss leader. I've never seen a IMAX or any theatre along with a furniture store.
Are you forced to go through the furniture store to exit the theater, like a gift shop at the end of an theme park ride? Are people going to watch a movie and deciding to get a couch while they are there?
Jordan's furniture. It's very surreal; It's a massive complex with a Fuddruckers, a play park and some other appendages. And yes, you do need to go through the furniture store. It's a fantastic theater though all said and done.
Fuck yeah fellow Masshole! Love Jordan's IMAX, its the only IMAX I'll go to! You gotta experience the "Butt Kickahs" to understand. 🤣 The furniture thing works too...I've bought a couch, a bed and a mattress from them so...they got my money haha!
You only leave through the back door at night, usually they make you leave through the top of the theater and go down through the actual furniture store.
Yeah we have one theater here showing the 70mm version with the dual laser digital projectors, which is good. But theres only three showtimes for it today, and all the seats are booked up as of me writing this.
I mean they just need to extend the runs of anything on 70mm and make an prestige film available in that format. They are selling out completely to the point that a 745am show on a saturday is sold out of everything but the front row.
I got to see Dunkirk on 70mm IMAX and it was magnificent. I didn't really love the movie but the movie was visually one of the best movie experiences I've had. I'd spend much more on a 70mm IMAX ticket than what they charge, it's that good. Unfortunately I don't live anywhere near a 70mm projector
That's definitely true. But one movie that will be sold out for two weeks doesn't sustain a business model. The number of "must see in imax" movies is pretty small. There are fairly few times that people make an effort to see it.
Are you sure they're not figuratively charging inflated prices? Or theoretically, perhaps?
Maybe metaphorically charging inflated prices.
You're sure it was LItERalLy?
Probably not the best place to ask, but there is a 70mm IMAX near me and they have some seats available… are there any bad seats? All the center(except for the first 3 rows) are taken. Never been to a 70mm.
Depends on the theater itself. Sitting in the front is usually not the best choice, but the IMAX I used to go to (closed) had the first row start a roughly the mid point of the screen so...1st row wasn't bad, but I'd still shoot for 3rd row or up to the middle like normal movies. Ymmv
In general, the closer rows will be more immersive with the down side of potentially missing something because you have to turn your head. That actually was perfect for something like Tron Legacy or Dunkirk. Totally different movies watching them at home...not nearly as good (which probably seems to the writing vs. the experience).
It's too big. If you're in the front row you are literally turning your head left and right to see the whole screen and can't follow the action very well.
It's also special and premium feeling to be honest. I look it like restaurants. Sometimes you just want an In-and-Out $5 burger because the value is perfect... but there are those FEW times I want and can afford that robust $20 burger.
The problem is that there's just nowhere near the amount of IMAX movies being made that would make it a money making venture at all. It costs a fortune to film a movie in IMAX to begin with, and converting movies to IMAX is a losing proposition all the way.
Seriously, how many people are going to go and see Back Rooms in IMAX?
Even if you showed old IMAX movies every night it would still not fill the calendar and it would be idle most of the time losing money, it's a very small catalog.
Frankly I feel we should just be grateful to people like Nolan who've kept the format going as long as it has, otherwise there would be almost no way to see any IMAX movies these days.
Hopefully The Odyssey is a smash hit, other big filmmakers start taking up the format, and filmgoers start increasing demand for more premium 70mm showings instead of gimmicky 3D, 4DX, 17DD.
We have one in Lititz, last time I was in one I got a free ticket for giving blood, but I usually go to the non IMAX one...because I have free tickets for giving blood haha. The sound is way better in the IMAX though. My wife and I went to see Project Hail Mary at the IMAX. Mindblowing. They don't have the reclining chairs though.
One thing that hurt the perception of I-Max around here is when the regular theaters went to lounge chair seating. All of a sudden, what used to be relatively premium / comfortable I-Max seating is really sub-par compared to the loungers, and the way the I-Max theaters are built, they can't retrofit without extensive/expensive rework of the theater floors - even then, I'm not sure that lounger seating positions even work for "the I-Max experience."
Combine that with the trend to 2.5+ hour "big movies" and it only makes things worse for the smaller bowl theater seats.
Pretty stupid choice if you want more people to see it, which would also increase their revenue. Now I might be struggling for brain cells but something feels wrong here 🤔
Yes, normal theatres have smaller screens than imax theatres. They usually cut the aspect ratio to fit the normal screens if they are shot on imax. That's wny you always see the comparison between imax and conventional screen.
Right so this makes even less sense if you want people to see your production but you also have people showing how much less you see. I see a correlation between this and profits
Well think of it like a burger. You think that the best burgers need a potato bun and American cheese. But someone says "but I don't have American cheese in any stores near me" you aren't going to change the recipe just because they don't have the cheese. You already have the vision. You can just say "cheddar will do" the final dish won't be what you made, but it will do.
Aspect ratios are a very important part of the artistic process. I think this video explains it very well. Nolan had a vision for imax, and he made the movie with that vision in mind. It's not about money. It's a Nolan movie it's gonna make a morbillion dollars anyway. It's about the vision. It may lead to less revenue, but that's a worthy price in Nolan's eyes.
If it's because of profit then it's cheaper to shoot it on normal digital camera no? Imax film is expensive, and they have to rent the rig too. Reshooting and editing is a chore. Directors have their vision on how their movie gonna look, and Nolan thinks that imax can capture his vision of the movie. And there are certain benefits to film on analog than digital. I get what you are saying, but imax as a company is failing. They don't get enough revenue as it is. It's not all about profit as a director if you're using imax.
Let the the artists live. I don't want to live in a world where everything is shot on an iPhone and actors are all replaced by AI just because of bucks.
Physical film is always going to be more expensive. I mean what's gonna be cheaper to ship across the globe 800lbs of film or a box of CFE storage cards? Can't exactly go back and delete a bad take to get more recording time. The camera are loud AF when recording so the audio team have to do various workarounds not common to a typical production.
Like yea it's gonna be used as a marketing tool where they push the "see it how it's meant to be seen" sort of dialogue but that's not exactly indicative of potential total profits.
Plus most studios aren't going to be able to use that kind of advertising unless they've got an already well established director like a Nolan. You don't see live action Disney movies being filmed in IMAX.
I'm blessed to be a 1-2 hour drive from three IMAX 70mm locations and it's truly an insane experience. A standard movie in the theater is a great film watching experience, but an IMAX 70mm viewing is pure spectacle, there's nothing like it.
Yea I never take for granted that I'm a 10 minute train ride to the 2nd largest IMAX in the country & theres a couple others in the area. I ended up joining AMC A-List for like $28/month, I can see up to 16 MOVIES A MONTH INCLUDING IMAX. Kind of insane really. Now just waiting for a day with decent seats to open up before Odyssey leaves IMAX, its been straight sold out except for the absolute worst corner seats here.
You know what? I forgot about finding a spot for Odyssey 70mm. I barely made it for Oppenheimer, and the only spots left were at the absolute front. It was hard to see anything from there.
Man I’m getting fuuucked by Megaplex in salt lake. It’s $10.71 a month for ONE ticket and they up charge for everything lmao. Jesus, yours is like 5x cheaper.
It's just a lot more immersive thanks to the bigger screen and sound system, on top of the aspect ratio giving you more of the movie to look at. Feels less like you're just "watching" a movie and more like being there.
It encompasses your entire field of vision - not many bad seats in IMAX. The sound is also designed in such a way that it feels like it's all around you.
That's cool I just hate the whole cinema experience.
Way too expensive. Food and drinks expensive too. Other people have no manners and you are not allowed to slap people. You can't pause. Also important for Nolan movies, I can't rewind and watch this part again with subtitles.
Totally fair. I'm also sick and tired of talkers and noisy people, it really sours the experience. I will say though, I think there's a lower ratio of annoying people at these types of showings just cause it's usually people that are actually there to watch a movie and treat it more respectfully, because I've been to I think 5 total imax 70mm showings and only during one of them did I have someone annoying near me.
The closest one to me is about 4.5 hours away, I’m thinking about driving down on my day off next week to catch The Odyssey. I truly wish they had more true IMAX theaters
I saw Dune 2 as my first NYC IMAX movie after first watching it in a sort of shitty A/V theatre and I went in thinking it would be fun to watch with an understanding of the plot already...was immediately blown away by completely, and I mean completely the IMAX showing blew things away visually and audio wise
Digital IMAX is cheaper and easier to do with more cinemas showing it. Most IMAX these days is both shot and shown on digital with only a few movies every few years using film.
Odyssey is the first film to be entirely shot on 70mm film for instance.
The aspect ratio is just a size problem really, 70mm though is a major logistical challenge that most people don’t care enough for when compared to digital.
The aspect ratio is a thing I do not understand. Why is digital IMAX and IMAX 70mm a different aspect ratio? They should just make the digital IMAX screen adjustable with curtains like theaters do with their normal screens.
There are no bigger film snobs/nerds/connoisseurs (call it whatever you like) than bigtime directors like Spielberg and Nolan.
They love IMAX, and so they use their clout and pull to make the studio pay to produce their movies in IMAX, too. IMAX itself isn't profitable but the movies made for IMAX absolutely can be once they're chopped up for the smaller, standard aspect ratio and distributed to normal theatres.
Yea but if you're taking off the bacon and cheese then I don't even want it anymore. Hearing how awesome the 6 story 70mm is that's 330 miles away from me, I'll just wait for the blu ray then.
There are tons more digital imax theaters where you still get a very large screen and a larger aspect ratio, so you do get more than you would in a standard cinema. It's only the true full size imax film cinemas that are rare.
You don’t have to watch them in that format though. Oppenheimer used it for some scenes and that movie did great. You’re acting like 70 mm is the only way to see it.
Most people don’t see or perceive enough difference between imax and a regular theater to pay the difference.
My guess would be those people haven't been to an IMAX theatre or at least not the ones I've been to. Walking into the IMAX screens at mine and I'm always utterly shocked by the sheer size of the screen.
Most people don’t attend those theaters because of increased ticket prices. Most people don’t see or perceive enough difference between imax and a regular theater to pay the difference.
Exactly. I couldn't care less about imax. It's about as exciting to me as the 3d fad. It adds nothing to the experience.
Plus with ticket prices these days I'd rather sit my ass on my own couch and be able to pause the movie to go to the bathroom or get a snack.
That's why I said "they don't think there would be profit in it". I'm not saying they're wrong. I'm just saying it's not that we can't, it's that we choose not to make more 70mm projectors, same with bowling pin machines.
Another reason they don’t make them is because pretty much only Christopher Nolan wants to shoot in it. I read they could only shoot 3 minutes at a time.
you seem knowledgeable on the subject so ill ask my random question to you...what do they do with all that imax film once the movie is no longer showing in the theater?
Mostly it's sent back to the studio for storage or destruction. Some specific theatres have permission to store rolls in their archives. There's not many rolls of this in the world. There's still rescreenings of movies in future in 70mm.
No, there aren't enough theaters to collect that money. How can you make money out of something where 99% of the demographic doesn't have access to?
How do you know there isn't enough interest? Have you asked me? Anyone? No. This is completely based on some investor who has decided to make his theater with 70mm capability. That's it. Nobody is going around asking people if they would pay. You either invest the money and people come or we have the current situation where you think nobody is interested.
One thing to add. Every 41 70mm imax theater has a digital imax projects to use for movies that don't have 70mm prints. For example, films like Mission Impossible 7 and 8 and Guardians 3 were all shot on IMAX-certified camera but none got any 70 mm prints so they were shown using digital IMAX projectors. Even Dune 2 only got 12 70mm prints, meaning less than half the 70mm theaters got a print.
I'm not sure what the protocol is now, in the old IMAX days, theaters had to buy and insure IMAX prints. A regular 35mm print was somewhere around $2k, an IMAX print, I think, was $50-100k. So you had a dedicated projectionist that ran just the IMAX in addition to your regular 35mm projectionist.
I'm sure the cost of the film prints is higher now since so few movies are released on film. I think that cost is subsidized since Nolan wants his moves shown this way.
So, more expensive film, plus payroll, plus refurbishing old equipment, plus projector bulbs for something that the general movie going public may not even know of different that a digital IMAX showing.
Perhaps anecdotal, but every 70mm imax screening is sold out near me. It's this way for every 70mm movie. The hype is crazy (and justified imo, it's awesome)
It’s also annoying, because they could generate a lot more money if they had more seating capacity.
When those theaters were built, they have you sitting close and low on the screen because they were designed for nature and science films to make you in awe of them.
While it’s pretty cool, a lot of the seats are uncomfortable for a long movie.
In Greater Vancouver Area in BC we basically had 1 70mm IMAX theater in Langely open for the longest time. Rarely it would play true 70mm IMAX but it could had did for basically just Nolan stuff.
But, we had another 70mm IMAX in Richmond which stopped showing 70mm IMAX after The Dark Knight Rises. It seems it took the Odyssey for them to decide to repair the theater in working condition.
All new digital IMAX theaters made in the Greater Vancouver Area basically ignore the max aspect ratio and retrofit existing theater screens into "IMAX" which kinda sucks. But I'm greatful for what we have given so many places don't have what we have.
Yup. Supply chain is dead. They haven't made a from scratch projector in 50 years. BUT, they did have commissions for three "new" 15/70mm systems in 2025. All retrofit machines. They can make more projectors, but that's going to be for very big customers of their 4K systems. And those customers are going to reserve 15/70 for the highest revenue marquee theaters.
Realistically, as it stands, IMAX does not have the ability to handle more film releases. Any shot with VFX has to optically printed using a CRT based technology. They are down to only a handful of working film printers in LA, and the CRTs have dimmed enough that they have to print very slowly.
That being said, Film isn't going away. The LA facility isn't that old, has a massive 70mm film vault, and they've made several major upgrades to speed up their film pipeline in recent years with the previously mentioned laser based scanners and soon to be installed laser based optical printers to replace the CRTs. Not to mention all the specialized cameras they have made for Nolan over the years.
It seems clear IMAX intends to make the film pipeline bigger for more releases. And it would make sense that includes a modest expansion of 15/70 projectors as theater owners feel comfortable making those investments.
I also wouldn't mind seeing an expansion of regular 70mm projectors. Must easier and cheaper refurbishment process. I know Nolan likes to do regular 70mm releases too.
It's funny because one of those theaters is near me and they're almost completely sold out of tickets for 6 showing a day (including 2am showings) for the next 3 weeks. I was looking at what they even had to purchase still and it was seats like the front row at 7am on a Tuesday 4 weeks from now. And that's at $25 a ticket.
Obviously that's not going to be the case for EVERY movie that ever hits IMAX, but it's clear that if filmmakers wanted to try it, they can still fill the theaters.
I think if quality movies were still being made then the revenue would come back. Every IMAX theater in my city is damn near sold out for the Odyssey this weekend
because we also have at least two generations' that will accept shitty phone footage as "good enough" as well as viewing the world through a 4-6" 1080 screen.
You can't sustain it as a business, but you can order one-offs from a business focused on other things. Anything in those machines can still be made if you're willing to pay.
The sad thing is that IMAX diluted their brand by having vastly inferior digital setups still be labelled as IMAX.
At that point it's difficult for consumers to know the difference. They go to a digital terrible IMAX setup and think "why should I pay more for this".
I mean it’s also a matter of going to the movies has become more expensive than it’s worth when you can wait a week and watch it on stream or just pirate it within a few days. Also the fact that no one has the time for that anymore when so much of our lives are spent working for the bare minimum.
Yeah I literally never go to IMAX. I go to lots of movies, but I'm happy paying my $13 per ticket for a regular showing. I'm there for the movie. The story of it. I have no reason to pay an IMAX tax. It's the same movie, just bigger. Big deal.
Probably would have helped if I didn’t spend the 90’s and early 2000’s being conditioned to think 4:3 aspect ratio was passé and substandard, and that 16:9 was superior. Only to now be told that 4:3 is better
The demand is low, so it seems to be concentrated in a few areas. The closest one to me is at the Ontario Mills Mall (in California, not Canada), but when I first went there to see Oppenheimer and later for Dune 2, it was packed.
Tbh a 100" proper LCD at home beats any IMAX whatsoever - I've been many times in IMAX (we have it) but didn't convince me.
It's something getting a niche very soon, if not that already.
Oh and I only need to double-click that MKV, now compare this to an IMAX preparation before watching a movie.
Insane.
IMAX is the oldschool movie tech analog to high-end vinyl players on audiophile high end shows costing 5-figures while still inherently fighting with A TON of limitations.
But some people stick to it.
For me it doesn't provide anything I would pay for it. That might be only me and my issue but still, fact.
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