Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is to be the first movie of its kind, being shot entirely using IMAX cameras, according to IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond.
Talking at the Cannes film festival, Gelfond recalled discussions he’d had with The Odyssey director Nolan about the struggles of making a fully-IMAX’d film.
“A year before Chris started filming The Odyssey,he called me and said he wanted to make a whole film shot with IMAX cameras,” says Gelfond. “That couldn’t be done for a lot of reasons.”
But they’ve only gone and done it.
Nolan apparently told Gelfond, “I’m going to give you a challenge.”
“If you can figure out how to solve these problems, I’m going to make Odyssey 100% film with film with IMAX cameras. And we’ve solved his problems. So, this will be the first film ever, at least filmed 100%, with IMAX cameras.”
Among the issues film-makers have with IMAX are that they are traditionally super-noisy, making dialogue recording an issue. And it’s not conducive to daily rushes — where directors and other key crew can have a look over what was shot that day.
Camera chat
Gelfond didn’t go into how these problems have been solved. But apparently they have been. We already knew IMAX’s latest cameras are around 30% quieter than the old hardware, which may have been a clincher.
Nolan’s last film, Oppenheimer, only featured around a quarter of its runtime presented as 70mm IMAX.
This puts The Odyssey in the unusual position of being a film not all that well suited to the average multiplex, though. IMAX 70mm film has a 1.43:1 aspect ratio, not the ultra-wide style you might usually associate with blockbuster-friendly cinema.
It means most showings will most likely chop off the top and bottom of the image, to get it closer to the native aspect ratio of the cinema’s screen and projector. And even plenty of IMAX cinemas are only tooled-up for 1.90:1 ratio digital projection.
Tickets for The Odyssey at The Science Museum’s The Ronson Theatre and Manchester’s Vue at The Printworks are going to be hot sellers — as the UK’s most legit IMAX cinemas, capable of full 1.43:1 projection.
The Odyssey is due to hit cinemas on July 17, 2026. There’s probably still a bit of a wait until those tickets go on sale.
Main image: Universal Pictures