Where the Heck Should I See the Odyssey?

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Confession from the publisher: I just got around to reading Kelly MacConomy’s review of The Odyssey in this month’s edition of The Zebra.

Yes, I know. I’m the publisher. And believe it or not, I proofread every page. Three times. But there’s a funny thing about proofreading: You can read every single word without actually absorbing what you’re reading. It’s a thing. I’ll write an essay about it one day.

We put out a big newspaper every month, and sometimes I get to fully enjoy it the same way everyone else does — after it lands in my hands.

And Kelly got me.

She calls Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey a “colossus of cinematic clout” and says the nearly three-hour film is “well worth” the time. Later, describing Matt Damon as Odysseus, she writes that he “deftly underplayed the legendary hero.”

Okay, Kelly. I’m going.

Read Kelly MacConomy’s full Zebra review of The Odyssey

But then I made the mistake of trying to figure out where to see it.

Good grief.

Apparently in 2026 you can no longer simply say, “I’d like two tickets to the IMAX, please.”

There is IMAX. There is IMAX with Laser. There is 70mm. There is IMAX 70mm. There are different aspect ratios. And there are people on the Internet who will apparently fight you to the death over which one counts as “real” IMAX.

I just wanted to see Matt Damon get home to Ithaca.

First, Why Does Any of This Matter?

Nolan didn’t simply make The Odyssey for IMAX. This is the first feature film shot entirely using IMAX film cameras, which is why the way you see it actually matters more than it does with most movies.

And the ultimate version is something called 15-perforation/70mm IMAX — generally shortened to IMAX 70mm.

This is enormous physical film running horizontally through an equally enormous projector. It can produce the towering 1.43:1 image Nolan composed for IMAX.

And it is ridiculously rare.

Only 41 IMAX 70mm locations worldwide contributed to The Odyssey’s July box office, and Washingtonian reports that just 25 theaters in the United States can show an IMAX movie on 70mm.

Which brings us home.

What About Hoffman?

AMC Hoffman Center 22 is right here in Alexandria at 206 Hoffman Street.

Hoffman does have IMAX — specifically IMAX with Laser. It also has Dolby Cinema and has hosted separate 70mm film engagements. But here is the part that was confusing me: having an IMAX auditorium and being able to show 70mm film does not automatically mean the theater can show 15/70 IMAX film. Those are different things.

And Hoffman does not appear on IMAX’s official list of theaters showing The Odyssey in IMAX 70mm film.

So if you see The Odyssey at Hoffman in IMAX with Laser, you are still seeing it on a big IMAX screen with laser projection.

That is not a bad consolation prize. In fact, for most of us who would prefer not to pack an overnight bag to see a movie, it may be the sensible choice.

But it is not the unicorn.

So Where Is the Unicorn?

Pennsylvania.

I am not kidding.

The closest theater to Alexandria on IMAX’s official Odyssey IMAX 70mm list is Regal UA King Of Prussia at 300 Goddard Boulevard in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. IMAX lists it as an official 70mm film location, and Washingtonian calculates the trip from the Washington area at nearly three hours.

Not Alexandria.

Not Washington.

Not Maryland.

Not even Virginia.

Pennsylvania.

So if you are a Nolan purist and want to see The Odyssey projected from actual 15/70 IMAX film, King of Prussia is the road trip.

And suddenly Odysseus spending ten years trying to get home doesn’t seem quite so unreasonable.

But Wait — There’s Another Very Good Local Option

The Smithsonian’s Airbus IMAX Theater at the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly is also showing The Odyssey. The Smithsonian describes the film as having been shot entirely with IMAX film cameras.

Udvar-Hazy uses the spectacular giant-screen IMAX experience many Washington-area moviegoers already know and love, but it is not on IMAX’s official list of Odyssey 70mm film locations.

In other words, you can have a phenomenal giant-screen IMAX experience without seeing a strip of 70mm film run through a projector.

So Where the Heck Should We See It?

After spending far more time researching this than any reasonable person should have to spend buying a movie ticket, here is my conclusion.

If you want convenience: see it at Hoffman in IMAX with Laser.

If you want a spectacular giant-screen IMAX experience close to home: Udvar-Hazy is mighty tempting.

If you are a Christopher Nolan fanatic, film purist, projection nerd — or simply want to say you saw The Odyssey the way Nolan most extravagantly intended — fill the gas tank and head for King of Prussia.

And if none of those distinctions means a thing to you? Go see the movie wherever you like.

Kelly says it’s terrific.

And she’s the reason I got myself into this mess in the first place.