Christopher Nolan’s last two films — 2023’s Oppenheimer and The Odyssey, which opened this week — have been about history. Well, they say history repeats itself, and three years after showings of Oppenheimer went awry at the only San Antonio theater screening 70mm IMAX, it seems that may be the case once again.
According to social media posts, AMC Rivercenter 11’s 70mm IMAX projector is experiencing issues during screenings, reportedly resulting in refunds for moviegoers and cancelations. Gabriela Reyes documented her experience at the theater in a TikTok captioned “pov: you don’t actually get to see the Odyssey” that quickly garnered almost 80,000 views and counting. In the TikTok posted on Thursday, Reyes made it all the way to her seat for the 6 p.m. showing and it appears the movie did get underway before being interrupted. An employee seemingly steps into the theater to offer refunds, and then the place empties out.
The projector can be fickle due to its age and rarity. One commenter who claimed to have attended the very first showing at 2 p.m. said it went off without a hitch, although the lights turned on randomly a couple of times. Meanwhile, another commenter said their 10 p.m. showing was canceled.
“They had to end up canceling the movies because the projector was getting so hot that it would just stop,” Reyes said of her experience. “But they did refund our tickets, which was like 40-something dollars. He refunded our snacks, which was 20-something dollars. We also got a free voucher and free parking.”
Reyes is apparently not the only one to run into that issue. A screenshot of an email seemingly from the theater was posted to the r/sanantonio subreddit on Thursday, reading that “due to a technical issue, the movie at AMC Rivercenter 11 has been cancelled” and a refund had been issued. The user who posted the screenshot replied to a comment saying the showing was for 2pm on Friday, June 17. Another commenter claimed their ticket for Friday’s 6 p.m. showing was refunded.
It’s unclear whether other showings will be impacted going forward. MySA reached out to AMC for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Tickets for the 70mm IMAX showings of The Odyssey are marked online as “sold out” for all dates and times until Thursday, July 23. However, none of the showings for the regular IMAX offering are similarly blocked off on the website. AMC Rivercenter 11 and Cinemark Dallas XD and IMAX are the only two theaters in Texas with 70mm IMAX capabilities. However, the Santikos Palladium at The Rim here in the Alamo City is showing the epic movie in 70mm (but not IMAX) format, which is probably your closest alternative.
The Palladium took some damage from Wednesday’s tornado, which touched down on the Far Northwest Side and damaged a number of businesses and apartments in the area. However, after closing for the day to assess damage, it was able to reopen on Thursday “just in time for The Odyssey” with a temporary fence outside while exterior repairs continue.