Believe it or not, the activity of going to the movies used to be a casual affair. Sure, for many people these days it still might be, especially if they're undiscerning types. Yet the days of simply walking up to a box office window, asking the clerk what starts soon and looks good, and having a breezy weekend night at the movies are all but gone. Even if you can get a last-minute ticket, chances are that your seat options are severely limited, seeing as how the practice of advanced ticketing has
been adopted by just about every major theater chain in the country. And if the film you'd like to see is in its opening weekend and you're interested in seeing it in a premium format? To quote Ricky Bobby, if you're not first, you're last.
To be clear, the increasing popularity of premium formats like IMAX, Dolby Cinema, Cinemark XD, 4DX, and others is a great thing. It's precisely these types of unique experiences that are drawing folks back to movie theaters during a time when the medium has been suffering for a while. In cinephile circles, this desire for a special experience extends to showings on film, something which used to be an industry standard but which now counts as a rarity in these days of digital dominance. Thus, the ultimate ticket (literally and figuratively) for film fanatics is an IMAX 70mm screening, providing the enormous image and sound that is impossible to get at home, as well as the fluid, tangible look of celluloid. Thanks to the recent success of films like "Sinners" and "Oppenheimer," with those movies' respective filmmakers hyping up the versatility and specialness of the formats, the general public are becoming hip to the charms of premium viewing options.
All of this has led to what will undoubtedly be seen as a watershed moment in movie theatergoing. This week, Universal Pictures made the unprecedented move to sell tickets to a film which hasn't even finished shooting yet: Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey," due for release on July 17th, 2026. The film's first teaser trailer has been playing in theaters since the release of "Jurassic World Rebirth," and the hype for a movie a year away is nothing new. Not only was this practice of teasers released way in advance common during the pre-internet days, but it's been the standard for Nolan's films ever since "Inception." Yet the sale of tickets for a movie that's not even done yet is very new, and its rabid reception — with every IMAX 70mm showing entirely sold out for the first four showtimes in all major cities — sets what could be a horrific precedent for moviegoing in the years to come.
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Turning Movies Into Concerts Cheapens The Experience And Makes It Uncomfortably Elitist
Here's the biggest issue with the precedent the "Odyssey" presale sets: It continues this slow, disturbing transformation of movies into what has become of concerts and Broadway theatre, something that will irrevocably change the entire experience of the medium. This transformation can already be seen in the decline in audience etiquette, something which the theater chains and studios have begun either tacitly accepting or, in the latter case, actively encouraging, as filmmakers and official accounts eagerly repost people's pictures and videos of a movie playing in a theater that they took with their smartphones. As many have pointed out, this practice has incredibly little to do with celebrating the art on screen; in our clout-based society, the art is nowhere near as important as the Event, and everything becomes secondary to proving that you were present at the Event. That's something which in and of itself is elitist, and the snapping up of rare tickets for a hotly anticipated movie is part of that practice. Posting on social media that you got your tickets for "The Odyssey" a year out isn't about actually going and seeing the film; it's about letting everyone know that you're one of the lucky few to have the ability to go see it in the format it was made to be seen.
In conjunction with this concert-going behavior comes one of the banes of modern existence: online ticketing. To be fair, no company or business has managed to find a way to equitably and reliably offer online ticketing when demand is very high, no matter how much they try. Even those of us who do all we can to prep, like myself, can easily be left in the cold. I logged onto AMC Theaters' website and the app simultaneously just as the "Odyssey" tickets began to drop, and I could easily get into the theater's seat map. However, each seat I chose was somehow already purchased by the time I was trying to check out, forcing me to start all over again and play the world's worst game of Minesweeper in trying to determine which seat I selected I could actually purchase. And this was just one seat for myself — imagine trying to buy one for a friend or significant other. Within just a few minutes, it was all over: All the seats at my preferred theater were gone, and I was out of luck. If the deluge of friends and colleagues' social media posts crowing about their own victories didn't sting enough, the sight of several scalpers selling tickets (marked way up in price, of course) for that location on eBay sure did. Add to this the growing popularity of popcorn buckets and other attendant (and pricey!) souvenir merch, and the fact that, so far, the only perk one gets with their "Odyssey" presale purchase is a commemorative ticket, and it seems like movie theaters have all but completed their transformation into concert venues.
Hollywood Needs To Put Its Money Behind Building More IMAX Theaters, Not Hypebeast And Aura Gimmicks
Of course, all is not literally lost for me, as more showtimes for the film will be added — the big reason why the presale was only one showtime per day is because, again, the movie is still shooting, and the theaters literally can't know what other showtimes to book when there is no final runtime yet. Yet all may be lost for the possibility to casually plan on seeing a major new film in its best format on opening weekend, as this presale proves beyond a doubt that people will happily book themselves a year in advance for the next hot ticket. If you're a well-to-do single person with a flexible schedule, this practice becoming normalized may not mean much to you. However, if you've got a rigid work schedule, a family to support, a partner to consider, or even just a rocky financial situation, prepare to have a headache around what used to be a leisure activity.
The takeaway that Hollywood should be getting from the response to the "Odyssey" presale is that there's a massive demand for premium formats, and that more theaters than just 30 (in the whole world!) should be able to show movies shot specifically for the IMAX 70mm format. There does seem to be a bit of movement in that area, fortunately — there are two new screens being specifically constructed (or revamped) to handle IMAX 70mm in Los Angeles, for instance. Yet the big cities shouldn't be the only places where these films can be seen properly, as it only contributes to the scarcity which puts too much focus on the event and not the art itself. People follow trends, after all, and while it's great to see excitement, demand, and popularity for cool stuff, it can often lead to the art being replaced by the aesthetic. The Criterion Closet should be revered for the culture which the videos are seeking to elucidate, and not simply for the cultural clout it carries.
It's probably unlikely that many other films will be treated in exactly the same way as "The Odyssey," both for the logistical reasons mentioned earlier as well as varying levels of hype. Yet while this won't become the norm for every movie made from now on, it could very well be the reality for most major appointment viewing releases. It may not be as extreme as tickets dropping a year out, but the window for purchase may creep up earlier and earlier. Theater subscription services like AMC A-List, which normally allow a ticket to be booked for an IMAX screening as cheaply as a regular ticket, may consider not just a first screening but all opening weekend screenings an "event" and exclude them from their service, charging full price a la the "Odyssey" presale. Maybe the hotly anticipated "Dune 3" and "Avengers: Doomsday" will begin selling their seats for next year, too, and maybe buying a ticket for a movie may become more like buying season tickets for an opera — remember how theater chains wanted to instill dynamic pricing over the last decade? Whatever ends up happening, there's no denying that this new, strange odyssey of moviegoing has begun, whether we like it or not.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
