There’s an interesting debate kicking up in Hollywood at the moment. IMAX screens are becoming precious real estate. It’s summertime, and summer blockbusters are designed to be bigger, louder, more bombastic… and tailored for specialty formats such as IMAX, 4DX, and Dolby. Except, there are only so many IMAX screens available to screen the latest blockbuster offerings, and some people – like Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise – reportedly are getting annoyed at the short window they are receiving.
It’s being reported by Puck that Tom Cruise is upset because his upcoming Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning - Part One is only receiving one week of exclusive IMAX programming. Well, 10 days, once you factor in the movie’s shift to July 12 as an opening date. The issue, for Cruise, is that Universal has guaranteed a three-week window for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which will begin on July 21. Meaning that Mission: Impossible has a short window to capitalize on the premium format before it has to shift down to traditional projection… and cheaper tickets.
I’m unclear how this reality has only hit Tom Cruise now. The dates for these upcoming 2023 movies have been established for some time now, and Cruise had to realize that his latest Mission: Impossible movie – which absolutely appears to be tailored to the IMAX screen – is sandwiched between Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny as well as Barbie and Oppenheimer. One of these blockbusters was going to have to give, potentially by moving its release date. The trouble is, almost all of the movies in play in this conversation did change their release dates, holding out hope of a big-screen presentation.
We saw Oppenheimer footage while at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, and yeah, it deserves to be see on the IMAX screen.
Also, Oppenheimer and Barbie have enjoyed weeks of free publicity just by coming out on the same day, “forcing” fans to choose one over the other. Matt Damon even had to comment on the rivalry, which itself is hilarious.
The problem isn’t really limited to that stretch in July. This entire summer is loaded with movies that want a crack at the IMAX format, from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to The Flash. In my honest opinion, if you don’t see Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in the IMAX format, you are missing out on a significant immersive quality of the film. But there are only so many IMAX screens available, and the windows are very tight. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, as an example, will only enjoy a one-week run in IMAX (so get to theaters ASAP, if that means anything to you), because it has to make way for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. After the Autobots, it’s The Flash. And after the Scarlet Speedster, we turn the format over to Indy.
Basically, every studio wants a piece of that pie. And when you are Christopher Nolan, you get to feast on that pie for three weeks, which is one of the perks of being a major partner to IMAX over the years. Never mind the fact that Tom Cruise saved the movie industry, according to Steven Spielberg. Man, it’s a difficult situation. The biggest winners? Us, because we get to see all of these movies in theaters, very soon.
