A look at the rare IMAX projector behind record ticket sales for ‘The Odyssey’

Christopher Nolan’s epic film “The Odyssey” just broke ticket sale records at the Museum of Discovery and Science’s IMAX movie theater in Fort Lauderdale.

Read more ICE deports Venezuelan official accused of torture. He lived in South Florida

As of Aug. 13, the museum’s AutoNation IMAX 3D Theater, home to the only IMAX 70mm projector in Florida, sold 57,201 tickets to “The Odyssey,” beating a 16-year record held by James Cameron’s “Avatar” from 2009.

But “The Odyssey” isn’t just going to beat the record. It looks like it’s going to destroy it. Ticket sales reached 62,300 as of this week, said Andi Fuentes, the museum senior director of audience engagement.

“Breaking a record that stood for more than 16 years speaks to the extraordinary response to this film and the shared cinematic experience of seeing it in the AutoNation IMAX Theater,” said Joseph P. Cox, the museum president and CEO in a statement.

Tickets to see “The Odyssey” at the IMAX theater have sold out several times since they first went on sale last year. Fans have traveled from around the world to watch the film in IMAX 70mm, a rare film format that offers an immersive viewing experience.

Read more North Miami council members violated city charter, judge says. Will they be fired?

The AutoNation IMAX Theater one of just 25 theaters in the U.S. and one of 40 worldwide that screens films with an IMAX 70mm projector. The screen it projects onto is six stories tall, or 65 feet tall and 85 feet wide.

“Moviegoers have traveled from across Florida and far beyond to experience something that simply couldn’t be recreated at home,” Cox said. “That’s what museums and theaters have always done well: bring people together around experiences they’ll remember.”

Working with IMAX 70mm, both for filming and projecting, is very technically difficult and expensive. New IMAX 70mm projectors haven’t been made in about 50 years, and parts needed to build these film projectors “simply no longer exist,” Variety reported. At MODS, highly-skilled specialists work hard to maintain and operate the museum’s IMAX 70mm projector, Cox said.

“We do all we can to keep it maintained and running smoothly because it’s really all we have,” said Certified Lead Projectionist Christian Mena. “I make the joke often where it’s like being a lighthouse worker, having to just maintain the system. Keeping the light on, keeping it running.”

Read more ICE deports Venezuelan official accused of torture. He lived in South Florida