Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is drawing moviegoers eager to experience the film the way the director intended — on an IMAX 70mm screen. But that experience is only available at a handful of theaters nationwide.
Just 25 theaters across the United States are equipped to project the film in IMAX 70mm, including only two locations in Texas. That means many fans may need to travel to see the movie in one of the highest-quality theatrical formats available.
With “The Odyssey” now playing in theaters, here’s where Texans can find IMAX 70mm screenings, what makes the format different and what other premium viewing options are available.
What is 70mm IMAX?
In the simplest terms, 70mm IMAX is the way to see “The Odyssey” both in the highest resolution and on the largest screen possible.
A standard film strip is 35mm, so 70mm film is physically larger, resulting in a higher-resolution picture. Showing the movie in IMAX allows for an expanded image. So by seeing “The Odyssey” in 70mm IMAX, you’re seeing more of the frame than you would in a normal theater, and the image itself also looks better.
This is how Nolan recommends watching “The Odyssey,” but securing a seat in one of those screenings, particularly on opening weekend, will be tough. The tickets are so in demand that 70mm IMAX screenings started going on sale in July 2025, one year before the movie’s release. At the famed Lincoln Square IMAX theater in New York City, even showings at 3 a.m. are fully sold out.
What’s special about seeing ‘The Odyssey’ in 70mm IMAX?
Nolan has shown his films in 70mm IMAX before, including his most recent movie, “Oppenheimer.” But “The Odyssey” marks a historic first, both for Nolan and for movies in general: It’s the first narrative film to be shot entirely using IMAX cameras.
Typically, films will shoot only select sequences in IMAX, because IMAX cameras are loud, bulky and expensive. The cameras make so much noise that it has been difficult to film dialogue in this format, which is why most movies have only used IMAX cameras for big action sequences.
But with “The Odyssey,” Nolan solved this by placing the camera inside a casing dubbed a “blimp” to reduce noise, allowing him to film both action and dialogue scenes for IMAX while maintaining the expanded frame throughout the entire movie.
Where can you see ‘The Odyssey’ in 70mm IMAX in Texas?
Dallas − Cinemark Dallas & IMAX, 11819 Webb Chapel Road
San Antonio – AMC Rivercenter 11 & IMAX, 849 E Commerce St., Suite 800
Brandi D. Addison covers weather across the nation as the Weather Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network and contributes to Texas Connect coverage across the state. She can be reached at baddison@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Facebook here.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: 25 U.S. theaters showing ‘The Odyssey’ in IMAX 70mm. Where in Texas?