IMAX 70mm in Las Vegas: Where to See The Odyssey the Way It Was Shot

What IMAX 70mm Film Actually Is

Most theatres with an IMAX sign out front are running digital projection. That is still a big, bright, excellent way to see a movie, but it is not the same machine and it is not the same image.

Authentic IMAX 70mm is physical film. The stock runs horizontally through the projector rather than vertically, with fifteen perforations per frame, producing a negative area many times larger than standard 35mm and nearly four times larger than conventional 70mm. More surface area means more captured detail, richer color, and a level of clarity that digital formats approximate but do not replicate.

The other difference you will feel immediately is shape. IMAX film projects at roughly a 1.43:1 aspect ratio, close to square, while digital IMAX tops out around 1.90:1. That extra height fills your peripheral vision instead of stretching across it. Landscapes tower. Faces fill the frame. The screen stops being a rectangle you are looking at and becomes a space you are inside of.

Running film at this scale is also genuinely difficult. The reels are enormous and heavy, the platter systems are custom, and the format requires trained projectionists who know how to handle and thread the print. That operational reality, not screen size alone, is why so few venues in the country can offer it.

Why Palms Is Nevada's Only IMAX 70mm Theatre

Brenden Theatres opened inside Palms in 2001 and added its IMAX auditorium a couple of years later, complete with the film capability that most venues have since retired in favor of digital. That decision is the reason this screen still matters in 2026: when a filmmaker delivers a 70mm IMAX print, Brenden can actually run it.

To be precise about what makes this rare: Las Vegas has other IMAX auditoriums, and they are good ones. What none of them have is a film projector. Every other IMAX screen in the city is digital, which means Palms is not the only place in Vegas to see an IMAX movie. It is the only place in the entire state to see one on film.

The auditorium pairs that projection booth with a screen that rises roughly 70 feet, the largest IMAX screen in Las Vegas, inside a theatre that has been fully renovated with reserved luxury recliners, a full bar pouring local craft beer and cocktails, and a lobby designed to feel like part of a night out rather than a waiting room.

Worth underlining for anyone comparing options across town: free parking at Palms is not a small thing on a trip this close to the Strip. Between that and a theatre you can walk to from your room, the total cost and hassle of a movie night here lands well below the equivalent outing elsewhere in the valley.

Brenden Theatres also runs JB-X auditoriums with Dolby Atmos and laser projection, plus a DTS:X immersive audio house, so even when a 70mm engagement is not on the calendar there is a premium format worth choosing. You can find the full rundown on our Brenden Theatres page.

The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm

The Odyssey is the reason this format is suddenly a national conversation. Christopher Nolan has been shooting sequences on IMAX film since The Dark Knight, but this is the first feature in history captured entirely with IMAX film cameras, made possible by a newly developed camera housing that finally quieted the notoriously loud IMAX bodies enough for full dialogue scenes.

Matt Damon plays Odysseus, with Anne Hathaway as Penelope and Tom Holland as Telemachus, in an adaptation of Homer's epic built at a scale that rewards the format. Seeing it projected on 70mm film is not a novelty upgrade here. It is the version the film was designed to be, shown on the equipment it was designed for.

Demand has been intense nationwide, and with only 25 prints circulating in the country, primetime showings at every participating theatre have been selling out well in advance. If your preferred time is gone, it is worth checking early morning, late night, and weekday listings. Those tend to open up, and returned seats reappear regularly.

Tickets and What to Know Before You Go

The IMAX 70mm engagement is priced and ticketed differently from a standard showing, so a few details are worth reading before you get to checkout:

• Tickets are $50 for all ticket types for The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm. There is no adult, child, or senior variation on this engagement.
• Brenden Plus members receive 50% off tickets to this presentation.
• Monthly and annual member tickets cannot be redeemed for this special engagement.
• Brenden's everyday value pricing does not apply here. The $6 Monday "Dolla" Day and $6 before 6pm Tuesday through Thursday deals cover regular showings, not premium 70mm engagements.
• Arrive early. At nearly three hours, this is a film you want to be settled in for, and the IMAX house fills fast on nights that sell out.

The theatre sits on the west side of the casino floor behind the food court, which means you can park free, walk in, grab a drink from the full bar, and be in your seat without ever going outside. Our property map will get you there in under a minute from any tower.

Make It a Weekend at Palms

Because IMAX 70mm plays in only 25 cities nationwide, a meaningful share of the audience is traveling in for it. If that is you, the most efficient version of this trip is the one where the theatre is downstairs from your bed, and there are special rates for exactly that.

Build the rest of the night around it. Dinner at one of our restaurants before a late showing, a nightcap after the credits, and a room you can reach without calling a car. For a film approaching three hours, not having to drive home afterward is its own kind of luxury.