Imax tickets for Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming film The Odyssey are reportedly set to go on sale starting Thursday, a full year ahead of its scheduled release date.
The highly-anticipated film is set to be released in July 2026, but as of this week, several US publications have noted that listings for IMAX 70mm showings have already appeared online at major chains like AMC, Harkins, and Cinemark in cities such as Dallas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.
The decision to sell tickets this early seems to be strategic, despite being unprecedented. After the success of Nolan’s previous Oscar-winning feature Oppenheimer, which grossed $975.8m globally and made over $190m of its revenue from IMAX screenings alone, it can be assumed that studios and theatres would prefer to lean further into that demand.
Trade publication World of Reel has reported that some theatres have started accepting reservations for IMAX 70mm showings with placeholder listings, though official confirmation from distributor Universal about the full ticketing rollout is still pending.
The Independent has written to IMAX and Universal for comment.
In May this year, it was reported that The Odyssey is being shot entirely on IMAX cameras, the first commercial feature film to do so.
The new IMAX cameras, which are reportedly lighter and 30 per cent quieter, will eliminate the usual problems that crop up with cameras, like scanning and processing of the film stock, and will allow the director to watch dailies easily while filming.
IMAX plans to rent out the new cameras being used by Nolan once the Tenet director is finished.
The news of the ticket sales is also unusual since there is still very little known about the film. At the time of writing, the film’s first teaser trailer is only available for screening in cinemas during showings of Jurassic World Rebirth, despite it being leaked online in some places.
There has also been no indication as to when the trailer will appear online, with Nolan preferring his trailers to be enjoyed as a cinematic experience.
The Odyssey, which is still filming, is an adaptation of Homer’s epic Greek poem. The story follows the hero Odysseus (Matt Damon), king of Ithaca, as he journeys home after the Trojan War. However, his expedition proves perilous as he has to battle numerous threats and mythological creatures.
Tom Holland is playing Odysseus’s son Telemachus, while Charlize Theron has been cast as the goddess Circe.
It’s still unclear who is playing the other characters, but the cast includes the likes of Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Anne Hathaway.
More recent casting announcements include Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Benny Safdie, and Elliot Page.
The Odyssey has been partially filmed in Sicily, the island scholars say Homer based a portion of Odysseus’s journey upon in his 8th century BCE epic. Favignana is understood to be the place where Odysseus and his crew landed, collected food, and barbecued goats in the tale. It is part of the Egadi archipelago off of Sicily’s north west coast.
The Odyssey will be released in theatres on 17 July 2026.
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