The Odyssey Just Changed Event Movies Forever — What Now?
The time to start planning a movie night may be a year ahead.
Christopher Nolan redefined the blockbuster with Oppenheimer, the lofty biopic that had moviegoers crossing state lines to see the movie “the way it was meant to be seen” on IMAX 70mm film. There are only 30 theaters in the entire world equipped for this format, meaning supply is limited and the demand is very high, and screenings would sell out soon after becoming available.
At the time, this was seen as a win for the state of cinema as we know it, but as we prepare for Nolan’s next movie, The Odyssey, Universal is changing the game with an almost unprecedented release structure that could set a brand new precedent for event films, making them more of an event than ever.
Going above and beyond to get movie tickets is nothing new, but planning a year ahead is a recent development.
Studios making a big to-do about tickets for a movie becoming available is nothing new, but that usually happens a few months before release. Back in the day, event movies meant camping out for days on end to secure tickets, but nowadays it’s just a matter of logging on to a website on time to secure the earliest possible showtime.
But for The Odyssey, things are a little different. Universal released tickets for first-weekend showings at 25 different 70 mm IMAX theaters around the world an entire year before release. This is completely abnormal — The Odyssey is still in production, and the listed runtime of 2 hours 40 minutes seems to be just an estimate. But nevertheless, showtimes across the board started selling out. There are even tickets now being resold on eBay for a big markup. Basically, getting a ticket for these showings is like getting a ticket for a concert. And much like at a concert, there are some caps in the amount of tickets you can buy at one time, and these tickets are exempt from AMC’s A-List subscription program.
A year-long lead time has been done before: only a few weeks ago, faith-based distributor Angel Studios allowed viewers to preorder tickets for its upcoming film Young Washington a year before its scheduled release date of July 4, 2026. That’s before a single frame of the movie has been shot — before even the casting of the title character was announced. But those tickets were available only on Angel Studios’ website, and only granted the buyer a code to purchase tickets once showtimes were announced. The Odyssey is unique because actual tickets are available even now.
70mm IMAX film has become the gold standard for movies filmed in large format.
Thankfully, not all showtimes are completely sold out. At time of writing, there are still some spots available if you’re willing to travel to Regina, Sasketchewan on Sunday, July 19, 2026, but most other showtimes are sold out. Of course, you’ll still be able to catch The Odyssey in different formats that weekend, and more 70mm showings will be added after the first weekend, but this proves that you’ll want to buy tickets for those as soon as possible.
Blockbusters are always looking to push the envelope farther, so it wouldn’t be surprising if this became the norm going forward. While it’ll probably be limited to 70mm releases like this one, we just might see tickets for Avengers: Doomsday available in December of this year. It requires a bit of planning ahead, but if it works for pop stars, maybe it can work for movie stars too.
