The spectacular box office success of Christopher Nolan will continue to set records.
Oppenheimer has one advantage over Barbie—IMAX pulling power—despite “Barbenheimer” being a cultural phenomenon in its own right. The attention of devotees of high-end cinema has been captured by Christopher Nolan, who has a strong love for the medium, the large-screen format, and his magnum opus about the Manhattan Project.
Because of the enormous number of people who kept coming through the doors, Oppenheimer’s general IMAX engagement was just one week ago extended by the business. Even if titles like Gran Turismo and Blue Beetle are legally required to have IMAX screenings, if there is still a demand for Oppenheimer, it will continue to run alongside these fresh releases. In spite of advertisements for other movies, Oppenheimer screenings continue to sell out weeks in advance.
Oppenheimer, however, was also shot on full-frame IMAX 15 Perf 70mm Film, which is regarded as “the Gold Standard” of film. There are just 30 theaters in the globe that can display the movie in that format in addition to those that can show it in the traditional 70mm format. And according to Variety, it is these theaters that have obtained an exclusive extension, with Oppenheimer showings continuing there at least through the end of August. Should the unprecedented demand persist, IMAX has also stated that the movie will stay in IMAX cinemas until the end of the summer and into the following fall.
the grandfather of the IMAX format and the inventor of the atomic bomb
In the run-up to the movie’s premiere, Nolan has been aggressive in his promotion of IMAX. The sheer enormity of the film itself, which required extending the platter intended to carry it due to the reel’s volume, caused a viral sensation. The 11-mile-long, 70mm version of the movie weighs more than 650 pounds. It would take you the same amount of time to walk the length of Oppenheimer as it would take you to watch it, a BBC journalist named Ali Plumb told Nolan in an interview.
The movie has become the eighth most successful IMAX release of all time based only on numbers. That takes into account the fact that the movie hasn’t (yet) been released in countries like China, Japan, South Korea, and Russia. A staggering $114.2 million has been earned for the movie just on IMAX screens. Oppenheimer is currently the second film to earn $100 million at the IMAX box office in comparable markets.
In our discussion with Oppenheimer down below, Nolan extols the merits of the IMAX format.