There are many reasons to be excited for The Odyssey. Putting aside the talent involved and the quality of the story being adapted, it’ll be a momentous occasion for cinemagoers. Not only does it mark the long-awaited return of a hopefully quality retelling of an Ancient Greek tale, but it’s also a full IMAX film. Both of these factors are helping to whip up the hype storm for the new flick.
Bringing Ancient Greece Back to the Big Screen
There was a time when cinemas were teeming with big-screen retellings of Ancient Greek myths, tales, and poems. They continue to speak to us in the modern day, being deeply human stories even if they’re cloaked in the fantastical and audacious. Many films managed to replicate some of these elements, but by the early 2010s, following the more shallow popcorn cinema spectacles of the Clash films, they went out of fashion.
Where the setting picked back up was online. Now, among the collection of featured, popular, and new casino slots, you’ll always spot one based on Ancient Greek myths. One of the newest is Chronicles of Olympus, which stars Apollo, Hercules, Hades, Hera, Hermes, Ares, Medusa, Demeter, and Poseidon. They play as unique boosts within the Assembl’em feature, which also runs alongside Zeus’ own Thunderous Wins bonus.
It’s one of many games in the collection, which goes to show the enduring appeal of the setting, stories, and characters. Essentially, the Greek myths work as their own IP, with creations that embody them giving people an immediate sense of what’s to come. Usually, it’s to embrace the power of a god, or to showcase a story about epic characters overcoming epic conflicts. It’s been missed from the big screen, but The Odyssey will bring it back.
Our Finest Form of Film Delivery
The Odyssey promises to be as epic on-screen as the eternal poems written by Homer back in the days of Ancient Greece. The story itself looks to trace the poems faithfully, which will be quite the undertaking in and of itself. However, what’s added another factor for consideration
to the process is Christopher Nolan’s decision to shoot the whole epic in IMAX. Lots of films have used IMAX before, but the whole film in IMAX is a huge leap forward. Already hailed as a revolutionary effort, Nolan and Hoyte van Hoytema have shot the whole film front-to-back with these cameras. So, the production ended up with over two million feet of the extended 65mm-wide film. It’s about producing that full, large-scale shot perfect for IMAX theatres. These auditoriums are designed to be as immersive as possible, from seating arrangements to sound, emphasising the absurdly high fidelity pictures.
While there isn’t an IMAX theatre in Bromsgrove ready to show this all-in IMAX movie when it arrives, you do have several options in the county. Two Cineworld theatres in Birmingham have IMAX – one on Broad Street, another in Resorts World – another in Cheltenham, and one more in Telford. Each is a Cineworld, and each has an IMAX screen that’s expected to sell many tickets around the 17 July release date.
You’ll need to be swift to get an IMAX ticket for The Odyssey at cinemas that haven’t already opened for pre-sales. If you manage to get into a cinema seat, you look set to be in for a real treat this summer.
Article by Ben Spencer.
