Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
Christopher Nolan’s hotly anticipated film The Odyssey won’t be released until 2026, but Regina’s Kramer IMAX Theatre has already sold all the tickets for their first four screenings.
The Saskatchewan Science Centre is one of just 26 theatres in the world that can screen the 70 mm film., and Saskatchewan moviegoers snapped the tickets up almost instantly.
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“I was surprised that we went on sale that early,” Ryan Holota, the centre’s vice president of operations said on The Greg Morgan Morning Show.
“But I’m really glad that we did. It was a great marketing move. Lots of people are talking about it already.”
Holata said the response is similar to what the theater experienced with Oppenheimer, another Nolan film shot for IMAX using 70 mm film cameras. That movie drew visitors to Regina from across Canada, the U.S., and even Europe.
Despite The Odyssey plot detail still being under wraps, Holota said the buzz has already started.
“It sounds to me like it’s his retelling of (Homer’s) The Odyssey,” he said. “We did have about a 30-second teaser in front of Superman at the IMAX a couple of weeks ago … it didn’t give too much other than seeing some of the actors and seeing that it was full screen, floor to ceiling, on our screens.”
That screen is a big part of the draw. The Regina IMAX uses 1.43:1 aspect ration, which is about 40 per cent more visual space than a standard movie theatre.
“Instead of the pictures just being a letterbox,” Holota said, “it goes all the way from the floor to the ceiling.”
It’s one of the few theatres in North America still equipped with a 70mm IMAX projector, and Holota said it’s earned a reputation for its exceptional presentation quality.
“We definitely started to see some (ticket buyers) from out of town,” he said. “Nothing like Finland or whatever yet like we had for Oppenheimer, but I think what really drive that for us is just how unique our theatre is.”
As theatres around the world sell out fast, Holota said Regina’s early momentum could turn into another tourism boost for the city when the film is finally released.
“There’s a lot of people looking for the best possible experience,” he said, “and that often is on IMAX film.”
For now, fans hoping to catch The Odyssey in Regina will have to wait and hope more showings will be added down the road.
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