IMAX 70mm Tickets for ‘The Odyssey’ are Being Listed for $1,500 on eBay

Demand for IMAX 70mm screenings of Christopher Nolan’s upcoming The Odyssey has been so high that ticket buyers reportedly faced hour-long waits online — while opening weekend seats for large-format screenings are being listed on eBay for as much as $1,500.

Nolan’s adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey — which has made cinematic history as the first major Hollywood feature to be shot entirely using IMAX film cameras — is set to be released on July 17.

Tickets for IMAX screenings of Nolan’s epic went on sale on Thursday, June 4, and according to reports, ticketing platforms including AMC and Fandango struggled to handle the demand from audiences hoping to secure seats for 70mm screenings. Ticket buyers using AMC Theaters’ website and app were reportedly placed in online queues immediately, with wait times to access advance ticket sales listed at more than an hour.

Some moviegoers reported delays lasting several hours while trying to secure tickets, while others say they were unable to find open seats as theaters quickly filled up. Fandango also supposedly experienced a surge in traffic, with users reporting long wait times and slow loading speeds.

As Forbes reports, limited availability for premium large-format screenings appears to have fueled a resale market on eBay. Tickets for The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm during its July 17 opening weekend are being listed between $500 and $1,000 for screenings in New York, Texas, Florida, and Arizona. Two advance tickets to see The Odyssey at AMC Lincoln Square in New York during opening weekend are being listed on eBay for $1,500, while a pair of tickets for an IMAX 70mm screening in Dallas is being sold for around $400.

The IMAX 70mm format delivers triple the resolution of standard 35mm film and projects onto screens several times larger than those in standard theaters. Advance tickets for opening weekend IMAX 70mm screenings of The Odyssey first became available last summer and quickly sold out, an unusually early sales window for a major movie release. Interest in the format has been fueled in part by Nolan’s long-standing support for IMAX and his encouragement that audiences experience his films on the largest screens available. Audiences previously traveled long distances to watch his previous movie Oppenheimer in 70mm IMAX.

As The Odyssey is the first feature film to be entirely shot on IMAX cameras, screenings of the movie will maintain the same aspect ratio throughout, unlike movies partially shot with IMAX that bounce between different ratios. Christopher Nolan used more than two million feet of film to make the movie, and the director recently showed how he and the crew have been physically cutting the IMAX 70mm film by hand with scissors.