Though “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” was shot for IMAX on IMAX-certified cameras, it wasn’t shot on 65mm film and there are no parts of the movie that scale up to the true IMAX ratio of 1.43:1. That’s not to say that IMAX was entirely uninterested in the movie; as you can see above, “Dead Reckoning” got its own special poster, and IMAX’s head of post-production, Bruce Markoe, told Forbes, “We wanted to play both movies as much as we could because Mission is going to be a great picture in IMAX.” According to Markoe, IMAX suggested moving the release date for “Dead Reckoning” further away from “Oppenheimer,” but Paramount Pictures wouldn’t budge. And ultimately, Christopher Nolan is IMAX’s special little guy.
“Nolan has a special place in IMAX’s heart because he uses our cameras and promotes us,” IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond told Variety in June. “It’s not a matter of us saying which [movie] we can make more money on. I would hope after ‘Oppenheimer’s’ run, we can bring back ‘Mission.'”
However, even if it wasn’t about the money back then, it’s definitely a factor now. Following the opening weekend for “Oppenheimer,” IMAX reported that 26.2 percent of its domestic box office debut came from ticket sales at just 411 locations, and a further 14.8 percent of its international box office came from only 329 IMAX screens around the world. During an earnings call earlier this week, Gelfond said that “Oppenheimer” had lifted IMAX to/ one of its best weekends of all time.
The scarcity of 70mm IMAX showings of “Oppenheimer” in particular (they’re available at just 19 locations across the United States, and only 30 theaters in total worldwide) has led to tickets rapidly selling out. This extended run might be bad news for “Mission: Impossible,” but it’s good news for anyone who missed out on grabbing an IMAX ticket for “Oppenheimer” the first time around.