Inside Nolan's sold-out 2 a.m. Odyssey Imax screening
A sold-out 2 a.m. Imax 70mm screening of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey drew about 650 fans to AMC Lincoln Square on opening night in Manhattan, despite 90-degree heat and wildfire smoke. AMC added overnight shows through the fourth weekend as 8216odyssey8217 inside the soldout Imax demand emptied midnight-to-3 a.m. seats. The three-hour Homer adaptation is the first film shot entirely on Imax film, and that format—not just the star cast—is what pulled sleep-deprived audiences through the door.
Key Takeaways
- About 650 fans packed a sold-out 2 a.m. Imax 70mm show at AMC Lincoln Square on The Odyssey's opening night.
- AMC is running 2 a.m., 3 a.m., and 6 a.m. screenings through the film's fourth weekend to meet Imax 70mm demand.
- Imax says the multiplex sold essentially every seat for midnight-to-3 a.m. showtimes.
- The Odyssey earned $51 million on Friday from 3,919 North American screens, with weekend forecasts climbing as high as $120 million.
Why did fans stay up for a 2 a.m. Odyssey screening?
Variety's on-the-ground report found opening-night weather in Manhattan hit the nineties, with Canadian wildfire smoke turning the sky hazy orange. Still, hundreds queued at Lincoln Square for the premium large-format presentation of Nolan's epic.
Outside the theater around 1 a.m., attendees repeatedly cited Imax 70mm before mentioning Nolan or Matt Damon. One 30-year-old New Yorker named Christian said he needed to see the movie the way Nolan intended, even if it would ruin his Friday.
By 2 a.m., crowds hurried into the auditorium with concessions—pizza, Diet Coke, even $70 Trojan Horse popcorn buckets—while AMC staff worked overnight checkpoints and a busy stand. The room stayed nearly full; around 4:30 a.m., when Odysseus returned home, the audience roared.
How scarce are overnight Imax 70mm tickets?
This was not a one-off stunt. AMC is showing the three-hour film six times a day in Imax 70mm, a format available in only 25 U.S. cinemas. Tickets for the overnight blocks have been extremely hard to book.
According to Imax, the Lincoln Square multiplex sold essentially every seat for showtimes scheduled between midnight and 3 a.m. A fan named Miraj said he fought to book seats after missing Oppenheimer on that screen for a month, tracking Discord and Reddit alerts to avoid the same wait.
For more late-night and premium-format alerts, check BlasterPost Streaming & TV Alerts.
How is The Odyssey performing at the box office?
The overnight frenzy mirrors a huge opening day. Nolan's film took in $51 million on Friday across 3,919 North American screens. Early weekend estimates of $90 million to $100 million have since risen as high as $120 million after that Friday haul.
A $120 million bow would be Nolan's strongest since The Dark Knight Rises ($160 million in 2012) and would top Oppenheimer's $82 million opening weekend. Friday alone already beat Interstellar's full opening weekend of $47.5 million. The Odyssey carries a reported $250 million production budget and stars Damon as Odysseus alongside a stacked ensemble.
As credits rolled near dawn, fans lingered to gush, post Instagram timestamps, and flood Letterboxd—proof that for this release, the communal theater run still starts long after midnight.