Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film The Odyssey has broken ticket sales records in a way Hollywood has never seen before. The movie does not come out until July 17, 2026, but tickets for the premium IMAX 70mm showings went on sale on June 4, 2026, and disappeared within hours. Fans waited in online queues for up to an hour just to get a chance to buy seats for a film that is still over a year away.
95 Percent of IMAX 70mm Seats Gone in 60 Minutes
The ticket sale started at midnight Eastern Time on June 4. Within one hour, buyers had grabbed 95 percent of all available seats for the IMAX 70mm screenings. These showings are only happening at 25 to 26 locations worldwide across the weekend of July 17-19, 2026, with some Thursday afternoon shows on July 16. The total sales from that first hour alone reached approximately $1.5 million.
IMAX officially announced the special sale on its social media channels. Almost immediately, ticket websites saw massive traffic. AMC Theatres reported wait times of nearly 60 minutes for customers trying to buy tickets. By the end of the day, the wait time had dropped to about eight minutes, but most seats were already taken.
Resale Market Explodes with Tickets Going for 400 Dollars
Once the official tickets sold out, a secondary market quickly appeared. Sellers on eBay and other resale platforms started listing The Odyssey IMAX 70mm tickets for prices between $300 and $400 each. This is nearly ten times the original ticket price. Some listings asked for even more.
The high demand shows how eager audiences are to see a movie shot entirely with IMAX film cameras. Nolan filmed The Odyssey using this technology, making it the first commercial feature film ever shot completely on IMAX film cameras. The IMAX 70mm format delivers much higher resolution and picture quality than standard digital projectors.
AMC Calls It the Best Presales Day Since 2022
Industry sources told Deadline that The Odyssey recorded the highest first-day advance ticket sales for any major studio movie at AMC in the last four years. This includes both premium large format and standard showings for other films. Only the concert films by Taylor Swift and Beyoncé generated more first-day sales, but those were distributed directly by AMC itself.
The presale tickets sold on June 4 were limited to premium formats. These included IMAX at AMC, Dolby Cinema at AMC, and Prime at AMC auditoriums. Regular standard showtime tickets are expected to go on sale later in June 2026. More than 6 million seats remain available for The Odyssey showtimes across different formats at AMC locations alone.
Where to Watch The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm
IMAX has released the complete list of North American theaters showing The Odyssey in the premium 70mm format. California has the most locations, including TCL Chinese Theatres in Los Angeles, Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood, AMC Metreon 16 in San Francisco, and Regal Hacienda Crossings in Dublin. Other locations include theaters in New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Washington DC.
For viewers outside the US, select international theaters will also show the 70mm version. Availability varies by country, and fans should check their local IMAX theater websites for updates.
India Gets Early Access with Bookings Opening June 8
Indian fans received special treatment in this global ticket rollout. Warner Bros. Discovery India announced that The Odyssey IMAX ticket bookings in India will open on June 8, 2026. This makes Indian audiences among the first in the world to reserve their seats alongside fans in the United States and other markets.
Denzil Dias, Vice President and Managing Director of Warner Bros. Discovery India, explained the significance of this release. He stated:
“The Odyssey is the first film in cinema history to be shot entirely on IMAX cameras, a milestone Christopher Nolan spent nearly twenty years working toward. On June 8, for the first time in India, Nolan fans will be amongst the first in the world to be able to book their favourite seats alongside their fellow Christopher Nolan fans around the world.”
The Cast and Story Behind the Hype
The Odyssey features one of the most star-packed casts ever assembled. Matt Damon plays Odysseus, the king of Ithaca trying to return home after the Trojan War. Tom Holland takes the role of Telemachus, Odysseus’s son. Anne Hathaway plays Penelope, the faithful wife waiting for her husband’s return.
Zendaya appears as Athena, the goddess who protects Odysseus. Robert Pattinson plays Antinous, one of the suitors trying to marry Penelope. Charlize Theron plays the sorceress Circe. Lupita Nyong’o, Jon Bernthal, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, and Mia Goth also have roles in the film.
The movie follows Homer’s ancient Greek poem. Odysseus faces monsters like the Cyclops and the Sirens while his wife fights off greedy men who want to take over his kingdom. The estimated budget for the film is $250 million.
Runtime Confirmed at 2 Hours and 52 Minutes
AMC Theatres listed the runtime for The Odyssey on its website as 2 hours and 52 minutes. This makes the film slightly shorter than Nolan’s previous movie Oppenheimer, which ran exactly three hours. Nolan himself confirmed that the movie is less than three hours because of technical limits with IMAX projectors.
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How to Still Get Tickets and Watch in Regular Formats
For fans who missed the IMAX 70mm tickets, there are still options. Regular IMAX tickets at standard digital IMAX theaters remain available in most locations. Traditional theater showings will also be widely available. These standard tickets should go on sale later in June 2026.
Universal Pictures will release The Odyssey in all major markets including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and India on the same date. The film will hold onto IMAX screens for three weeks after release, giving more fans a chance to see it in large format.
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