The Odyssey is the first film to ever be shot solely on Imax cameras, but that has some people worried that they’ll only see part of the image if they watch it in standard theatres. Is this a problem? Let’s dig in.
There are many different ways to watch The Odyssey when it hits cinema screens on July 17, but all the various formats available can get confusing. Look online at social media or on Reddit threads, and you’ll see much debate about whether you’ll be missing out if you don’t see the much-promoted 70mm Imax version.
Comments such as, “So audiences will have six different choices of how to see this film, with only one of them being the full image?” by Reddit user “CP_Chronicler”.
Or Redditor “MooseBoys,” who is seemingly quite annoyed: “Stupid gatekeeping. It’s fine if you want to shoot the film for that aspect ratio, but don’t cut parts out for screens with other ratios — just don’t use the whole screen. Linear scaling is completely arbitrary anyway.
As well as in 2023 for Nolan’s Oscar-sweeping Oppenheimer, a similar situation occurred in 2025 when a couple of high-profile movies, Sinners and One Battle After Another, were projected in different formats globally — the former was shot on a combination of 70mm Ultra Panavision and Imax cameras, and the latter on 35mm VistaVision cameras.
The Odyssey is a closer comparison to Sinners, in which Ryan Coogler only utilised Imax for specific scenes, as has long been the norm for most films that use the format, due to its cost and difficulty to use thanks to its sheer size and the sound it generates when the film is rolling. To combat this, though, Nolan worked with Imax to develop a new, quieter version of the camera on which the whole movie was shot on over 2 million feet of film.
So, with all of this effort put in, naturally you’d want to make sure you’re watching The Odyssey in as ideal a way as possible. With many different format types to choose from, ranging from 70mm Imax (if you’re lucky enough to live close to a theatre capable of projecting it) to 35mm, standard Imax, Dolby Vision, and others, it can get a little confusing.
Simply put, 70mm Imax is the “truest” way to see The Odyssey, but with only 30 or so cinema screens around the world able to show it this way, this won’t be the most common option. At an aspect ratio of 1:43:1, it’s a much “squarer” image than a standard theatre screen, thus delivering a taller image that fills up the frame from top to bottom. This is because 1:43:1 means that for every “100” tall an image is, it’s “143” wide.
So, naturally, there is some worry among potential viewers that if you watch Nolan’s latest in any other format, you won’t be seeing all of the film, or at least how it is intended. To some extent, this is true.
If you go to a screening at a standard Imax theatre that doesn’t have specific 70mm projection capabilities installed, you’ll be seeing it at an aspect ratio of 1:90:1, which means you’ll see roughly 40% less of the frame compared to 1:43:1, due to each “100” tall image being “190” wide on film this size, thus meaning in order to get whole width of a shot on screen, naturally, some of the top and bottom must be cropped or it just won’t look right.
This is further emphasised if you go and see it in either of its 70mm or 35mm formats, which hold an aspect ratio of 2:20:1 (100 tall, 220 wide) and 2:39:1 (100 tall, 239 wide) respectively, meaning you’ll see even less of the top and bottom of the frame here. Then there’s digital Dolby Vision and Premium Large Format, which can vary between 1:85:1 and 2:39:1 depending on the theatre. I did warn you it can get a little confusing. And that’s without even getting into the different audio systems available.
In short, yes, if you live close enough to one of the few theatres in the world that can project 70mm Imax, and can afford to do so, seeing The Odyssey this way will be the optimal method. But if that isn’t a possibility, standard Imax is still a very good option.
The Odyssey should still impress on standard cinema screens, though, as Nolan and his long-term director of photography, Hoyte van Hoytema, whom he has collaborated with on Interstellar, Dunkirk, Tenet, and Oppenheimer, know how to shoot a film for these formats — the Academy Awards wins and nominations attest to this. The centre third of the frame is still where the meaningful action of the film will take place, so while you may not get the full majesty of the frame when it comes to those sweeping Greek landscapes, none of the story will be cut.
What format are you planning to see The Odyssey in? Living in London, I’m lucky enough to live close to two 70mm Imax cinemas, so I will be treating myself at least once. Let us know in the comments!
Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.
