The Mythic Journeys Fans Are Undertaking to see Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” in IMAX
The stories are nearly as epic as Odysseus’s journey. Fans of Christopher Nolan’s ambitious filmmaking are stopping at nothing to catch his latest, The Odyssey, on IMAX. There are some good reasons for that, not least of which is that the film is the first to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. Then there’s Nolan’s status as one of the few filmmakers on the planet whose name alone draws huge audiences. Add to that the terrifically cinematic source material and the insanely talented cast of stars, and you can understand why people are going above and beyond to catch the film in the format it was designed for.
The stories, however, are wild. Variety reports on one such hardy soul, Amber Connaghan, a 29-year-old tech editor who lives in the California desert and bought her ticket more than a year ago. She’ll be driving three hours to see The Odyssey at the closest IMAX theater.
“One of my friends got pregnant last year, and she’s like, ‘OK, it’s time for you to have your second child,’” Connaghan told Variety. “I was like, ‘No, I have to wait a few months. Otherwise, it’s going to be too close to ‘The Odyssey.’”
Nolan and his cinematographer, Hoyte Van Hoytema, had to come up with clever workarounds to film the entire movie with IMAX cameras, but the results speak for themselves. (I got the film last night at the New York premiere in 70mm—it was an absolute feast and beast of an experience. One understands the desire to drive many hours to see it in an even larger format). As tickets for premium-format seats went on sale a year ago, the stories about the lengths fans are willing to go to see The Odyssey capture something wonderful about the desire to experience cinematic experiences on the biggest screen possible, with strangers, even if it means crossing state lines.
Tim McHugh, a 33-year-old healthcare consultant from Pittsburgh, is not just crossing state lines to see The Odyssey—he’s flying over them. He’s flying from the Steel City to Los Angeles to see the film at Universal CityWalk. While Pittsburgh does have IMAX theaters, McHugh and his brother decided to make a trip out of it.
“Seeing something in IMAX 70mm has been a bucket list item for me since I saw Ryan Coogler do a video about the screenings for ‘Sinners,’” McHugh told Variety.
Crossing state lines is something, but what about national borders? IMAX Melbourne general manager Jeremy Fee told The Guardian that his theater is one of only 41 in the world where you can see The Odyssey the way Nolan created the film, in a 1570 reel that runs more than 10 miles long and weighs more than 529 pounds.
“There are only seven outside of North America in the entire world, so people do seek out that really special experience,” Fee told The Guardian. “They can’t really see this anywhere else. We’re seeing more people travel than ever. We have people who built their holidays around their Odyssey screening, which is pretty incredible.”
Two of those people are Christian Wächter, 45, and his wife, Romy Demeter, 42, who have traveled from Germany to Indonesia for a work trip but are heading to Melbourne specifically to see The Odyssey on 1570 at the IMAX. Twice. “People have asked, why would you take that plane to Melbourne and see a movie? Because it’s the biggest 1570 screen in the world,” Wächter told The Guardian. “There is a bigger IMAX screen in Germany, but it’s digital, so you don’t have the full peripheral vision. That’s why we prefer to go to Melbourne.”
The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the hero of the Trojan War whose journey back home to his wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and son Telemachus (Tom Holland) is turned into a decade-long nightmare, as he and his men are besieged by Gods, monsters, and all manner of mayhem. The incredible cast includes Lupita Nyong’o in dual roles as Helen of Troy, the wife of Jon Bernthal’s Menelaus and the woman whose face launched a thousand ships, and her sister, Clytemnestra, wife of Benny Safdie’s Agamemnon. Robert Pattinson stars as Antinous, the most vile of the suitors, trying to steal Odysseus’s home, his wife, and, for good measure, murder his son. Zendaya plays the goddess Athena, and Charlize Theron plays the nymph Calypso. There is no more star-studded film opening this year.
Which is why Hogan Shay, a 27-year-old software advisor from Dallas, told Variety: “This is the biggest movie of the year from the biggest director of our lifetime.” Shay plans to see the film in IMAX 70mm twice in two weeks. “We grew up with Nolan’s work. He’s a household name for my generation like Spielberg or Scorsese were for my parents.”
The Odyssey sails into theaters on July 17.
Featured image: L to R: Matt Damon is Odysseus and Zendaya is Athena in THE ODYSSEY, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.
