From sold out tickets to a broken projector: An epic unfolds in the Toronto area over The Odyssey

Jazz Chhabra took the day off from work so he could spend it in Vaughan. 

To some, that may be an eyebrow-raising destination for a daycation. But as avid moviegoers know, it’s one of the only places in all of Canada that screens films in Imax 70-mm format. 

It’s widely considered the highest quality cinematic format watchers can experience, offering the complete picture of a film with nothing cropped out to fit a standard movie theatre screen. 

The coveted viewing experience has generated a frenzy amongst movie buffs hoping to catch Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey  — which came out July 17 — in the exact format it was filmed in. 

That includes Chhabra, except his Friday movie plans were cut short when Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan announced the projector that screens the 70-mm Imax experience was down. 

“I took the day off of work for this, and I convinced my family to also take the day off of work, only for us to get here and to be told that the Imax projector was broken,” he said, standing outside the theatre doors.  

Chhabra, who bought tickets with his family weeks ago, said they were offered a refund and a movie voucher, but no replacement ticket for the cancelled showtime. 

“Now we’re going to have to scour the internet and find another screening,” he said. 

In an emailed statement Friday, Michelle Saba, spokesperson for Cineplex, confirmed the Imax projector was down in Vaughan.

“IMAX is in the process of getting it repaired asap today,” she said, noting that tickets for the film are currently on sale for show times up to Aug. 20.

Janine Marchessault, a professor in cinema and media arts at York University, said such tech issues aren’t surprising because the screening deals with real, celluloid film.

“When you’re dealing with celluloid, these things happen,” she said, noting that issues like film getting stuck or breaking aren’t unusual. 

“This is a unique event that you’re going to, with a specifically trained projectionist and these massive, massive projectors and films and screens.” 

Tickets reselling for double face-value cost

Aside from the Vaughan theatre, Cineplex Cinemas Mississauga in Square One Mall is the only other theatre in the province that can screen the film in the Imax 70-mm format. 

But tickets for both theatres are largely sold out for the next month, according to the Cineplex website. 

The increased demand has sown ire online, with some users taking to social media platforms like Instagram to share stories of tickets being resold at huge margins. 

On Facebook Marketplace, an Imax 70-mm ticket at the Mississauga theatre sold for $70, more than double the face-value price, which is around $30 on the Cineplex website. 

On eBay, two “centre seats” for an Aug. 20 showing at Vaughan went on sale for $200, according to the online listing.   

When asked if he would consider buying resale tickets, Chhabra called the pricing “crazy” and said he wouldn’t go for it. 

Bijan Amirkhani, who also had plans to catch the film Friday, called the show time cancellation a “travesty.” 

“It was very important for me to see it in 70 millimetres; it’s like the pinnacle of Imax visuals,” he said. 

Marchessault, who bought a ticket to catch the 70-mm screening in August, said the demand to see The Odyssey in such a format signifies that young movie lovers recognize the importance of seeing films in theatres.

A unique format like a 70-mm film brings people back to cinemas, she said. 

“The image itself is just absolutely stupendous and spectacular.”