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For 14 years, an Imax film projector sat unused at Cineplex’s Scotiabank Theatre in Halifax.
Then came The Odyssey.
When Christopher Nolan’s three-hour adaptation of Homer’s epic premiered last week, the theatre booted up its dormant projector.
It’s one of only nine theatres in Canada and 41 worldwide screening the film on 70-mm Imax film — rather than the more standard digital projection used elsewhere.
“It feels almost like a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Aaron Larter after a Tuesday afternoon screening.
Larter said he used to work as a projectionist at two other theatres in Halifax, including the iconic Oxford Theatre, which closed in 2017 after eight decades. He said something was lost when Halifax, and most theatres worldwide, pivoted to digital projection.
“With film, it was a whole process. You had to put that movie together. You had to make sure that everything was just right,” said Larter.
“There was a lot of passion that went into that and you can kind of see it here. You get that feeling again.”
The last time the projector at the Scotiabank Theatre was used was in 2012 to project another Nolan blockbuster: The Dark Knight Rises, his third Batman picture.
But The Odyssey is the first film in history to be shot entirely using 70-mm Imax film. So theatres across the world pulled out all the stops.
“People are very, very excited about it,” said Don Mitchell, the theatre’s general manager. “I’ve talked to a few people already that have been here numerous times.”
A former film projectionist himself, Mitchell said he’s spoken to people from all over North America whose cities don’t offer the film format.
“They couldn’t believe that there was 70 mm here in Halifax,” he said.
Caroline Edwards, a spokesperson for Cineplex, said the projector itself predates the company’s operation of the theatre, so it doesn’t even know how old it is.
Halifax connection
The Odyssey‘s star-studded cast features Oscar winners Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway and Lupita Nyong’o, as well as stars like Tom Holland, Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.
Halifax-born actor Elliot Page portrays Sinon, the Greek warrior tasked with encouraging the Trojans to accept a wooden horse as a gift honouring the goddess Athena.
It’s Page’s second time in a Nolan movie, having previously appeared in his 2010 sci-fi action film Inception.
The Odyssey is Nolan’s followup to Oppenheimer, which won best picture and best director at the 2024 Academy Awards and grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide. In its opening weekend, The Odyssey grossed just over $264 million.
Massive ticket sales for the Halifax Imax screenings prompted Cineplex to add additional 10:50 p.m. screenings on weekdays for movie buffs who are also night owls.
It’s also extended the Imax run until at least Aug. 20.
A spokesperson for Cineplex said while it’s filmmakers and studios that decide what format films are available in, there could be a future for 70-mm Imax in Halifax.
“Demand for premium formats including Imax 70 mm is growing, and we will continue offering this format in this location when it’s made available to us.”
The eight other theatres in Canada where you can watch The Odyssey on Imax 70 mm are:
- Calgary: Scotiabank Theatre Chinook.
- Edmonton: Scotiabank Theatre Edmonton.
- Regina: Kramer Imax, Saskatchewan Science Centre.
- Toronto: Cineplex Cinemas Mississauga Square One.
- Toronto: Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan.
- Vancouver: Cineplex Cinemas Langley.
- Richmond, B.C.: SilverCity Riverport Cinemas.
- Montreal: Cinéma Banque Scotia Montreal.
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