The Pathé Odysseum cinema in Montpellier, the only French cinema equipped to project Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey in Imax 70mm format, is sold out for all its screenings until September, attracting film enthusiasts from all over Europe.
Spectators came from Spain, Italy and Switzerland
According to Sébastien Rodriguez, director of the Pathé cinemas in Montpellier, nearly half of the moviegoers come from outside the city, mostly film enthusiasts arriving from Spain, Italy, Switzerland, but also from Marseille, Lyon, or Paris, some making a round trip in a single day. Since the film's release on July 15, more than 30,000 viewers have already seen the feature film at the Pathé Odysseum, nearly half of them in the IMAX theater itself.
Refurbished last winter, this 222-seat hall has a screen of more than 400 m², measuring 18 meters by 24, projected from a booth specially designed to accommodate the 70 mm film reel, 18 kilometers long.
Only four equipped rooms in Europe
According to the director of the Pathé cinemas in Montpellier, the company chose this particular theater because of its screen size, which was deemed the most suitable for this rare format. In Europe, only four theaters besides Montpellier have IMAX 70mm technology: Prague, Brussels, and London.
This technical choice, hailed by film enthusiasts as a unique experience, has also sparked online criticism, with some observers accusing the film of fostering a form of elitism, as only about forty theaters worldwide are equipped to screen this version.
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