Fans pay premiums for Christopher Nolan's rare IMAX 70mm Odyssey screenings

Only 25 theaters in the United States were screening Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm, and the scarcity pushed fans into sold-out opening-weekend seats, premium resale prices and some 3 a.m. showtimes. The rare-format run became an event before the film even opened, with audiences treating the format itself as part of the attraction.

IMAX framed the release as a destination experience, with its ticket page calling on audiences to “Defy the gods in IMAX” and identifying the movie as an IMAX 70mm release opening July 17, 2026. Nolan shot the film entirely with IMAX film cameras, extending the director’s long-running argument that his movies play best in the large-format format he has championed for years.

The ticket rush showed how much value fans place on format-specific access. AMC and Fandango online ticketing platforms were hit with disruptions as sales opened, and AMC’s site showed wait times of up to an hour. Resale listings on eBay reportedly climbed as high as $1,000 for opening-weekend seats, turning a single screening into a high-priced commodity.

Some fans went even further to secure access. Coverage of the demand described cross-country trips to reach one of the limited IMAX 70mm theaters, and some buyers even delayed pregnancy to make room in their plans for the screening. That kind of sacrifice is unusual for a movie release, but it reflects how scarcity can create its own status economy around a theatrical event.

Early reaction fed the frenzy. First responses to the film were described as raves, with the movie called “astonishing” and praised for “flawless filmmaking.” Another review described it as “thrilling but uneven” and a “homecoming” for Nolan, a reminder that the director’s scale and ambition remain central to the appeal whether viewers love the result or debate it.

Tom Cruise added more celebrity fuel after a late-night screening, saying he “can’t wait” to see the film again. For a studio release in a streaming era, the combination of limited-format availability, extreme showtimes and premium pricing showed that spectacle still has pricing power when the experience cannot be replicated at home.