Nolan fans pack 2 a.m. Imax shows for The Odyssey
AMC added overnight Imax 70mm screenings as demand surged for Christopher Nolan’s three-hour Homer epic, Variety reported.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
A sold-out crowd of about 650 people filled AMC’s Lincoln Square theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side for a 2 a.m. opening-night screening of Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in Imax 70mm, according to Variety’s Ethan Shanfeld.
The late-night pilgrimage came during punishing New York weather, with temperatures in the 90s and Canadian wildfire smoke turning the sky hazy, Variety reported. The moviegoing conditions outside were rough, but the demand inside was fiercer.
AMC has scheduled 2 a.m., 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. showings through the film’s fourth weekend to meet interest in the Imax 70mm presentation, according to Variety. The chain is running the three-hour film six times a day in the format at Lincoln Square, the report said.
The format is scarce. Variety reported that Imax 70mm showings of “The Odyssey” are available in only 25 U.S. cinemas, and Imax said the Lincoln Square multiplex had sold “essentially every single seat for all showtimes scheduled between midnight and 3 a.m.”
The draw, for many in line, was the projection as much as the film itself. Variety reported that attendees repeatedly cited “Imax 70mm” when asked why they had chosen an overnight screening of Nolan’s Homer adaptation, which the outlet described as the first movie ever shot entirely on Imax film.
One 30-year-old New Yorker named Christian told Variety, “I need to see the movie the way Christopher Nolan intended it to be seen,” adding that the timing would hurt his Friday.
Another moviegoer, a 30-year-old man named Miraj, told Variety he had struggled to secure seats after missing the earliest Imax 70mm window for Nolan’s previous film, “Oppenheimer.” He said he used notifications from Discord, Reddit and other places to track availability.
By about 1:20 a.m., Variety reported, a line had formed around the escalator and AMC employees were checking the crowd at multiple points. At concessions, the theater had unusually heavy staffing for the hour, with Shanfeld counting 12 workers behind the stand.
The merchandise table had its own late-night mythology. Variety reported that some viewers carried miniature Trojan Horse popcorn buckets with hidden compartments in the belly. They cost $70. A second souvenir bucket shaped like an Imax camera had already sold out, an AMC staffer named Kiara told the outlet.
The crowd mixed younger adults, teenagers from the Tri-State area, father-son pairs and at least one child who appeared to be around 11, Variety reported. Shanfeld also noted hearing Spanish, German, Hindi and Chinese in the theater.
The screening began after the familiar Nicole Kidman AMC pre-show, which drew applause, according to Variety. A four-minute preview of “Dune: Part Three” also played before Nolan’s film.
Sleep fought back as the hours crawled past 3 a.m. Variety reported that one woman briefly nodded onto Shanfeld’s shoulder before apologizing, while most of the auditorium stayed awake through the final stretch.
At around 4:30 a.m., when Odysseus returned home to confront the suitors, the audience applauded, according to Variety. After the credits, people lingered outside as dawn arrived, talking about the movie, posting reactions and taking photos before heading for cabs and the subway.
This story draws on original reporting from Variety.