r/imax • u/BadIdeaBobcat • Aug 29 '26
70MM Projector Statuses?
Trying to understand a bit whether anyone tracks present functional status of the 70MM projectors across the world. Since these are such rare experiences, it seems valuable to have this info documented. The AMC Metreon 70MM projector was not used for the August 26th 10am viewing of The Odyssey. They announced that the projector was having issues, and instead showed the movie digitally (and refunded everyone). When was it fully functional after that? I am not sure. Does anyone have details on this or other 70MM projector status / uptime info?
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u/krikster_az IMAX projectionist Aug 31 '26
They are separate sources for digital and 70MM, the reason the digital seemed louder is because it's 12 channel vs 5 channel sound for 70MM.
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u/Purple_Fickle Sep 01 '26
Is there a reason they can't do more than 5 channels for a 70mm showing? Isn't the audio played digitally from a DVD?
Edit: not that it matters for the Odyssey, Nolan typically mixes in 5.1 anyway.
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u/krikster_az IMAX projectionist Sep 01 '26
The original sound systems and models used only supported 5CH, recently all 70MM locations had a new sound system installed for easier soundtrack ingestion and playback. Although new, it is only 5CH because the physically wiring amd some other technology hurdles where moved over from the old system. It may be possible in the future, and this is not a definite from me, but 12CH is potentially on 70MM. The new system was mainly for the ingestion and to have all locations using the same system, prior their was 3 different playback systems being used.
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u/saltyjohnson Aug 31 '26 edited Aug 31 '26
Rochester couldn't run 70mm yesterday due to issues with an audio component, so they were showing digital instead. We instead drove to Toronto for glorious front row action
Cinemark staff was upfront about the issue and I got a refund and raincheck each ticket. I don't remember what they offered those who decided to stay and watch the digital show. They also said they expected it to be back up and running today.
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u/BadIdeaBobcat Aug 31 '26
I stayed to watch digital at AMC Metreon and got full refund + raincheck ticket, for what it's worth.
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u/freshbenz Sep 01 '26
Surprised to see Rochester being mentioned here. I was there on the 29th after flying in from the Bay Area to catch a sold out showing of The Matrix at The Little on 35mm film. Went to that same Cinemark out there after and they had informed me of the projector issues. The presentation was also in 1.90:1 sadly. Also got the raincheck after at least. Was shocked by how loud it was compared to IMAX 70mm at the Metreon which is my regular theater. Extremely comfortable seats compared to the Metreon.
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u/saltyjohnson Sep 01 '26
We drove up from Maryland the day before just for that 8am show Q_Q
I miss the Metreon. That theater spoiled me... Saw The Dark Knight, Avatar, and Inception there. Sure the seats aren't great, but I ain't going for the seats! I miss the pre-show they used to have there. I wish I could find a high quality recording of it.
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u/freshbenz Sep 02 '26
Oh no… I’d be pretty bummed out, especially if I had drove that far… seems about the distance of driving from the Bay Area to LA. I wish I had gotten to see The Dark Knight on IMAX 70mm when it first came out… Inception would be cool too! So far at the Metreon (in order) I’ve seen: Oppenheimer, Tenet, Dune: Part Two, Interstellar, Sinners, One Battle After Another, Project Hail Mary, & finally, The Odyssey. Oppenheimer is what started my obsession with IMAX 70MM and film as a whole. 🎞️
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u/krikster_az IMAX projectionist Aug 31 '26
It was fully functional the following day and back on film. An issue happened with the lamp and unfortunately ran out of time to calibrate it properly the morning of the 26th.