Colorado cinephiles rejoice!

In the lead up to Christopher Nolan’s much-hyped film “The Odyssey,” Cinemark and IMAX have announced that 17 of their IMAX theaters, including one location in South America, will be getting a major upgrade in 2026.  
The bulk of these improvements will involve upgrading the projectors to ‘IMAX with Laser,’ which allows theatergoers to experience a higher-quality image overall. The real kicker that came with the announcement, however, is that three theaters are also getting a IMAX 70mm film projector. One of the three theaters getting that specific upgrade is the Carefree Cinemark in Colorado Springs, joined by a theater in Rochester and another one in a Chicago suburb.   

Additional detail captures just how special this upgrade is. After all, there are currently only about 30 projectors on the planet that can run IMAX film. Right now, the closest one to Colorado is found in Arizona.  
IMAX 70mm has had a bit of a resurgence in recent years and that’s all thanks to Nolan. When Oppenheimer was released, the IMAX 70mm runs were regularly sold out for a good portion of its theatrical run. Seeing something projected in this format makes it easy to understand the hype around it. The image is crisp, it’s overwhelming (in a good way), and has a warmth and texture that’s not experienced with standard digital projection. 

IMAX film is different than the typical 35mm film stock. It’s much larger and captures a massive, immersive image. For years, use of these cameras and film stock was only reserved for documentaries seen at places like Denver Museum’s IMAX theater. Due to the fact that they’re large, expensive to run, and very, very loud, making it hard to capture dialogue scenes in the format.  
For years, studios had been remastering their movies and re-releasing them with IMAX, but Christopher Nolan was the first major filmmaker to use the giant cameras in a major studio production with “The Dark Knight.” Twenty-eight minutes of that movie were shot on IMAX cameras and one was accidentally destroyed while filming a chase sequence.  

It’s been reported that “The Odyssey” has been filmed entirely on IMAX film cameras, so when this gets up and running, Colorado moviegoers will have a chance to be a part of a rare theater going experience – it’s expected to release on July 17, 2026. Amid the excitement, IMAX already released tickets for some showings a year in advanced and they sold out almost immediately. Coloradans interested in purchasing tickets for one of the first runs will likely need to keep an avid eye out for when tickets become available, as it’s likely people will travel from far and wide for a chance to see IMAX 70mm on display.