I want to start this story by stating that I HAVE TICKETS TO SEE “THE ODYSSEY” IN 70MM IMAX. I’m not against more movie theaters showing it that way, but I understand why there isn’t.
Recently, some people (including me) have commented about the CEO of IMAX saying,
“There’s certainly more demand, the problem is they haven’t made new IMAX film projectors in about 50 years,” says IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond. “So, we retrofit them, rebuild them and part of our strategy is to see how far we can take it.” (see this link)
However, the reality is that it’s much more than just the projectors that are the problem. With apologies to film purists like Quentin Tarantino and Christopher Nolan, it’s just way too expensive to show movies on film these days.
First, there aren’t enough 70mm IMAX movies made each year to keep the 70mm IMAX projector running year-round. So, movie theaters or studios need a projection booth big enough to hold the 70mm IMAX film projector AND the IMAX Laser Projector or they would need to pay to have someone remove one projector and install the other projector every few weeks. Doing this multiple times a year could get VERY EXPENSIVE.
Second, film prints are expensive. 70mm IMAX is the largest film prints so they’re the most expensive. At least one film print needs to be made for each projector showing the movie. On the other hand, Digital Cinema Packages can be duplicated and sent to HUNDREDS of movie theaters (each projector needs their encryption key to show the digital cinema package).
Third, at some movie theaters, the manager starts the digital cinema projectors. For 70mm IMAX projectors you need an experienced film projectionist to thread the film through the projector, run the film projector, and monitor the presentation. If the film isn’t threaded through the projector correctly the picture could jitter or go out of focus. Digital Cinema movies don’t have those problems
Fourth, film is fragile. Even with a film projectionist there’s still a possibility that the film can get dirty, scratched, or even break during the presentation. This affects the presentation quality. For a film break the movie stops and the film needs to be repaired which could take a while with 70mm IMAX film. Bad presentation or a film break leads to refunds, projection delays (you may need to start the next showtime later if there’s a film break), and/or you’ll need a replacement film print if the print gets really dirty, scratched, or damaged.
That’s why movie theaters switched to digital projection. Digital cinema is cheaper and more reliable. Plus, there are a lot of people who don’t really care if they watch a movie in a movie theater or on their cell phone.
Personally, I will admit that I have watched movies in a digital cinema movie theater that were playing in other movie theaters on film. I think the presentation in Dolby Cinema or IMAX Laser Projection is sometimes better than on film. I saw “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” on 70mm film and in Dolby Vision and I preferred the Dolby Vision presentation.
However, since “The Odyssey” was filmed in IMAX 70mm, that’s how I’m going to see it. I think there should be more 70mm IMAX theaters, but only a few more. There should be enough theaters that people can’t re-sell 70mm IMAX tickets for HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS like they’re doing now.
LOS ANGELES FILM REVIEW 