Well, it looks like “The Odyssey” is going to make a HUGE impact in China, thanks to IMAX. In a new report, the acclaimed Christopher Nolan-directed Greek epic is looking to debut next month in the Middle Kingdom, and will open with all 800 IMAX screens dedicated to showing the film. This will likely add a heap to the film’s box office total, which is already at $640 million (an impressive $87 million coming from the film’s second domestic weekend).
That exciting news hails from Variety and was revealed by IMAX CEO Daniel Manwaring, as the pic heads to theaters there on August 14, with both Nolan and star Matt Damon on hand to promote the movie in Beijing on July 30. And it is “being billed as the first-ever red carpet event held for a commercial film at the China National Film Museum,” a government institution that previously hosted the launch of James Cameron‘s original “Avatar” as part of IMAX’s early push in the country.
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“I’m expecting a very large majority of our entire network, if not all of our network, that first week will be playing ‘The Odyssey,'” Manwaring told the outlet. “We haven’t seen enthusiasm for a film like this in quite some time.” Previews are set to begin on Aug 1-2 in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with one screening per day ahead of the movie’s wide release.
Thankfully for Nolan, the underworld scenes with Hades and fallen Greek soldiers likely won’t ruffle the feathers of Chinese censors, as they were not only tastefully done, but didn’t have a huge scary/gory horror element to them (the Chinese government isn’t a huge fan of ghosts and the undead being shown in their entertainment, seen as very disrespectful). Others among the cast include Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Himesh Patel, Mia Goth, Elliot Page, John Leguizamo, Jon Bernthal, Corey Hawkins, Ryan Hurst, Lupita Nyong’o, Logan Marshall-Green, Will Yun Lee, Samantha Morton, and rapper Travis Scott.
This big announcement only highlights the massive potential to add to the film’s box-office war chest (after weirdo “culture war” bros online have dismissed the movie’s financial and critical success as part of a conspriacy) as there is an expectation that there will be a large embrace of “The Odyssey.” We’ll have to wait and see what the local reception ends up being. All signs point to the movie crossing the billion-dollar mark, as previously projected.
Christopher Marc is lead writer at The Playlist and the primary engine behind our daily news coverage. Chris is based in Canada and tracks everything from Marvel and Star Wars developments to arthouse acquisitions and festival buzz with equal enthusiasm and an instinct for the story readers actually want to read.
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