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A sold-out screening of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey reportedly turned into its own drama Friday night after a moviegoer allegedly refused to leave when the film ended because they wanted to watch it all over again.
The bizarre scene unfolded at Regal LA Live in Los Angeles during one of the film’s coveted 70mm IMAX screenings, according to X user Kat Tsai (@Chuwenjie).
“At Regal LA Live to see The Odyssey in 70 mm and they’re apparently calling the cops because a guy from the previous showing is refusing to leave his seat. He wants to watch it again,” Tsai wrote on X.
Minutes later, Tsai posted another update as the situation continued.
“Yep there’s 4 cops in there in flashlights and they can’t let anyone in!”
Tsai later told the California Post that the standoff eventually ended with police escorting the moviegoer out of the auditorium
“The cops did arrive and he eventually got escorted out,” Tsai said. The Post reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for comment.
The incident delayed the next screening by about 25 minutes, she said, forcing theater staff to adjust the schedule.
“The showing of the movie was delayed around 25 minutes from the scheduled start time, and all of the trailers were skipped except for the Dune trailer in order to make up for the lost time,” Tsai told the Post.
When another X user asked why the moviegoer didn’t simply buy another ticket, Tsai replied: “Probably cause the tickets are completely sold out for IMAX 70 mm.”
The chaos comes as demand for The Odyssey has reached extraordinary levels following its wide theatrical release on Friday.
Much of the excitement stems from the movie’s groundbreaking production. It is the first narrative feature ever shot entirely using IMAX film cameras.
The chaos comes as demand for The Odyssey has reached extraordinary levels following its wide theatrical release on Friday.
Previously, filmmakers, including Nolan himself, used the massive cameras only for select sequences because they were too heavy, loud and bulky to capture quiet dialogue scenes.
Nolan worked with IMAX to develop newly redesigned, lighter and quieter camera bodies so the entire film could be shot in the format.
Actually seeing the movie as Nolan intended is another challenge.
True 15/70 IMAX projection is exceptionally rare. IMAX has not manufactured new 70mm film projectors in roughly 50 years.
Original blueprints and specialized replacement parts no longer exist, and only a handful of engineers still know how to maintain the aging analog systems.
The film prints themselves are enormous.
Each reel stretches about 17 kilometers, weighs roughly 240 kilograms, or more than 500 pounds, and requires constant monitoring by highly trained projectionists.