Movie lovers from around the world are making the journey to Melbourne for a rare cinematic experience, with IMAX Melbourne becoming the only cinema in the Southern Hemisphere screening Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey on IMAX 70mm Film.
The highly anticipated epic is the first feature film shot entirely using 1570 IMAX cameras, with the full movie presented on IMAX Melbourne’s enormous seven-storey screen. The venue’s 1.43:1 aspect ratio matches the format Nolan used during filming, allowing audiences to experience the movie exactly as intended.
Starring Matt Damon as Odysseus alongside Anne Hathaway, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson and Charlize Theron, The Odyssey is being shown on IMAX 70mm Film in only 41 cinemas worldwide, with some fans travelling from as far as Germany to experience the unique presentation.
Behind the scenes, delivering the film is a technical achievement of its own. The IMAX 70mm reel stretches more than 17 kilometres when laid flat, measures around two metres across when wound and must be manually threaded through the projector before each screening.
With only five people in Australia currently able to operate an IMAX 70mm projector, IMAX Melbourne has been training new team members as demand for the format continues to grow.
Professor Olivia Khoo from Monash University said the film highlights the unique appeal of seeing major cinematic events on the big screen.
“Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is giving audiences an important reason to return to the cinema: the joy of a shared cultural experience and a cinematic event. Despite having numerous streaming options at home, cinema in large-format, immersive environments like IMAX cannot be replicated at home.”
For film enthusiasts wanting to experience The Odyssey in its full scale, IMAX Melbourne offers one of the only opportunities anywhere in the world.
