Imax China is preparing to dedicate the vast majority of its network of nearly 800 screens to Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” when the film opens in mainland China on August 14, CEO Daniel Manwaring said. Variety that audience anticipation for the release “is going to be huge.”

“I expect that a large majority of our entire network, if not our entire network, that first week will play ‘The Odyssey,'” Manwaring says.

Nolan and star Matt Damon will arrive in Beijing on July 30 for what Manwaring describes as the first red carpet event held for a commercial film at the National Film Museum of China in Beijing, a government institution that also hosted the original Chinese release of “Avatar” in the early years of Imax in the country.

Two screenings are planned in Beijing, plus a separate event at an Imax theater at Universal Beijing Resort. “We haven’t seen enthusiasm for a movie like this in quite some time,” says Manwaring, noting that he personally has been receiving “50 to 60 WeChats” every day from people requesting tickets for the film.

Previews begin on August 1 and 2 in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with one screening per day before general release. Manwaring notes that Imax China is already “firing on all cylinders” thanks to strong pre-sales for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” two weeks earlier, but he distinguishes between audiences for the two films, calling “The Odyssey” “more of an upscale city movie” and comparing the geographic divide to North America, where “the best take on ‘Odyssey’ is probably going to be New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.”

Imax’s initial box office share in Hong Kong and Taiwan has already surpassed 30% in both markets, with combined revenue approaching half a million dollars – “a lot for tiny little island markets,” Manwaring says.

According to ticketing agency Maoyan Pro, cumulative “want-to-see” registrations for “The Odyssey” had surpassed 252,000 as of July 24, placing it ahead of any other upcoming import title tracked by the platform. Maoyan Pro data shows that initial interest was concentrated among users in tier one and two cities and moderate to frequent moviegoers. For comparison, Maoyan Pro’s total wants to see for “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is 810,000, compared to 234,000 for “Minions & Monsters,” 203,000 for “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” 189,000 for “Toy Story 5,” and 115,000 for “Backrooms.” Among local titles, “Kung Fu Soccer” leads with 649,000.

Pre-sales for “The Odyssey” have not yet opened in mainland China, although Maoyan Pro notes that recent Hollywood imports of “Minions & Monsters” and “Toy Story 5” each topped RMB 14 million ($2.1 million) in pre-sales, and “Project Hail Mary” topped RMB 12 million ($1.8 million). Maoyan Pro also points to “Oppenheimer” as a benchmark for Imax’s appeal among Chinese audiences in visual effects-driven titles: that film generated RMB 452 million ($66.8 million) in cumulative mainland China box office, and the Imax format alone contributed RMB 137 million ($20.2 million), more than 30% of the total.

Nolan’s enormous popularity in China has increased over time and he has become “bigger than any movie star” in the country, according to Manwaring. “Nolan is so big in China, and his fans are not only huge, but also extremely sticky. They are fans who are lifelong fans… hardcore,” he says. Nolan’s previous film, “Oppenheimer,” grossed $9 million in China in its first five days and closed with nearly $20 million upon its release.

Nolan’s profile “was a little snowball and it continually got bigger and bigger,” Manwaring says, tracing the arc from a “Memento” remake to “Dark Knight,” “Dark Knight Rises” and “Oppenheimer.” He calls the phenomenon “the Nolan effect, or the snowball effect, if you will,” and says it “has become so huge,” as illustrated by “Oppenheimer’s” performance.

When asked what gives him confidence that “The Odyssey” can become a genuine film, he says the “Christopher Nolan effect” is the main reason for Imax’s optimism. About the film itself, the executive says: “We’re talking about one of the greatest poems ever created and told through the lens of the greatest filmmaker ever created.”

As for the format, Manwaring says there are no 70mm Imax locations anywhere in Asia yet, although the company is in “very serious discussions” about bringing the format to the region. Meanwhile, mainland China’s six GT cinemas – extremely powerful laser projector rigs built during Imax’s previous “institutional” era, when the company was still installing systems in science and technology museums rather than commercial cinemas – have become de facto pilgrimage sites. Manwaring says the phenomenon took off with last year’s animated blockbuster “Ne Zha 2,” when fans flew from across the country specifically to see it at a GT cinema, likening the effect to planning a trip around the 70-millimeter cinema at the BFI in London. “It would be foolish to say we’re not interested in building more of these around the world,” he says.

“I would say that Chinese audiences tend to be much more technical than even American audiences,” Manwaring adds, noting that moviegoers there examine the specifications of screens and laser projection systems much more closely than audiences elsewhere. “They just say, ‘Okay, big screen Imax, that’s cool.’ … I think audiences pay even more attention to that in China than in other parts of the world.”

Imax China’s first-half results showed declines in both revenue and profit, which Manwaring attributes to a softer-than-expected Lunar New Year calendar and a dry stretch in April and May, particularly for local language titles. “That’s the nature of our business. Sometimes it happens in cycles,” he says. Cue a stronger second half, with “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” joined by local hit “Kung Fu Soccer” and the upcoming Disney film “Avengers: Doomsday.”

Manwaring says Imax’s differentiation from rival premium large-format brands is increasingly based on content and not just specifications, citing Formula One races, concerts, esports championships and documentaries along with the company’s “Filmed for Imax” program with local filmmakers, which began with 2020’s “The Eight Hundred.”

“We used to be on the sales side of the business, trying to talk about why it’s so good,” he says of the show’s early years. “Now I think every Chinese filmmaker, if they’re going to shoot a movie that they think deserves that Imax canvas, they’re not just thinking about converting it or formatting it in post-production.” When asked if a Chinese filmmaker could eventually shoot a movie entirely with Imax cameras, as Nolan did with “The Odyssey,” Manwaring says, “There’s nothing else I’d love to do,” citing the growing demand for film cameras among Hollywood directors beyond Nolan, although cost and logistics remain barriers for now.

As for expansion, Imax China has a portfolio of just under 200 sites and continues to prioritize upper-tier cities over the lower-tier mall-driven growth that characterized its pre-pandemic strategy, as well as upgrading older systems to laser. “Growth is a priority and we see the network growing in China,” says Manwaring. He points to alternative content as a tool to expand the company’s target audience, citing survey data from NBA Finals broadcasts: “80% of the audience for that event hasn’t even been to a movie theater in five years to see a movie,” he says, adding that when those same attendees are later asked if they would watch a movie again, “90%” say yes.

“A lot of people around the world forgot how wonderful it is to sit in a really dark movie theater and immerse yourself in a story,” Manwaring says. “Sometimes you need to use some alternative content events to retrieve them.”