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Mr Nolan has done it again. The Odyssey has officially smashed box office records at IMAX Melbourne, becoming the cinema's highest-grossing film of all time – overtaking Oppenheimer before most local movie fans have even had a chance to grab a ticket.
The numbers are pretty staggering. IMAX Melbourne's single screen has already sold 74,000 admissions, pulling in more than $3.32 million at the box office, with every one of its 167 sessions booked out until September 6. Over its opening weekend alone, the cinema accounted for 2.67 per cent of Australia's entire box office – a wildly impressive feat for a single screen.
Wondering why cinephiles are flocking to Carlton? IMAX Melbourne is the only cinema in the Southern Hemisphere screening The Odyssey on IMAX 70mm film – the first feature ever shot entirely with IMAX film cameras, and the format Christopher Nolan intended audiences to experience. It's also home to the world's largest 1.43:1 IMAX screen, meaning every frame is perfectly presented. Each screening requires a mammoth 17-kilometre film reel to be threaded through the projector by hand – a skill only five people in Australia currently possess. As demand for IMAX 70mm continues to soar, the cinema is even training new projectionists to keep up.
IMAX Melbourne's general manager Jeremy Fee says the unprecedented demand proves audiences are willing to travel for the real thing. And they are – with Nolan devotees flying in from as far as Germany to experience one of only 41 cinemas in the world showing The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm.
If you were hoping to see the blockbuster in Melbourne's record-breaking cinema, you'll need a little patience. The next available sessions don't roll around until September. Happy to wait? You can book over her
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