There are several highly anticipated studio tentpoles on the docket for next year, and unsurprisingly, that means the summer movie schedule is stacked with high-profile titles that’ll be vying for ticket sales. In particular, July should be a very busy month, as that’s when Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day open within a couple of weeks of each other. The proximity between the two release dates will give Tom Holland fans their very own version of Barbenheimer, but it also has an impact on the Brand New Day release strategy. It looks like it’s going to be skipping premium formats.
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IMAX’s latest investor presentation includes a slide listing the 2026 films that will be receiving an IMAX release. Perhaps the most notable omission is Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The Odyssey, which releases on July 17, 2026, will play in IMAX, and then the next title is Flowervale Street, a sci-fi film starring Ewan McGregor and Anne Hathaway that debuts in August. Presumably, Brand New Day isn’t part of the lineup because of The Odyssey.
The Odyssey Will Be One of the Biggest IMAX Events of 2026
Things could change between now and next summer, but right now, it seems like The Odyssey is going to get an extended run on IMAX screens. Historically, it isn’t unusual for a film to have a shorter IMAX run, holding on to the premium format screens for a week or so until the next big release hits. For instance, this November, Predator: Badlands will be the main attraction in IMAX before The Running Man opens a week later. While IMAX has become increasingly more prevalent over the years, there are still fewer IMAX locations across the country than standard theaters, so theaters prefer to show the newest releases. That Brand New Day won’t be getting an IMAX release two weeks after The Odyssey opens indicates IMAX plans for Nolan’s latest to stay in its theaters for a long time.
In fact, tickets for Odyssey IMAX screenings went on sale a year in advance, and they quickly sold out. Due to Nolan’s pedigree and the massive scale of The Odyssey, there’s going to be a high demand to see it in IMAX, and the company seems to be planning things accordingly. There aren’t many films that could bump a superhero movie (which will surely have plenty of immersive action set pieces) from premium formats, but a new Nolan blockbuster is certainly one of them. Oppenheimer was a huge draw in IMAX a couple of years ago. Ever since The Dark Knight, Nolan’s work has become synonymous with IMAX.
Assuming there aren’t any revisions to the IMAX schedule (the slide has a footnote reading “Does not reflect complete listing of all titles planned to be played across the IMAX global network”), this will break a Marvel Cinematic Universe trend. The franchise’s previous three solo Spider-Man movies played in IMAX. Of course, none of those films opened near a Nolan movie, so they didn’t face any stiff competition for IMAX screens. While Brand New Day is getting left out, IMAX still plans to screen Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday, which opens in December 2026.
Even if Spider-Man: Brand New Day doesn’t play in IMAX during its initial theatrical run, it could always get a re-release down the line. Throughout the year, there are gaps in the release calendar, and an easy way for theater owners to make money is to show a previously releases title again. For instance, Sinners is returning to IMAX theaters over Halloween, taking advantage of a week where there are no new major releases. Perhaps there could eventually be a spot for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, possibly in the build-up to Avengers: Doomsday.
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Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics
