This August, Cineworld is rereleasing eight Christopher Nolan movies in IMAX, offering fans a chance to relive—or experience for the first time—his most immersive cinematic spectacles on the screen they were intended for. As anticipation builds for Nolan’s next film, The Odyssey (2026), this IMAX revival is more than nostalgia—it’s a statement about Nolan’s enduring power to draw audiences back to theaters.
Box Office & Legacy: A Case Study in Interstellar
Interstellar’s 10th anniversary IMAX re-release in December 2024 grossed $4.5 million across just 166 screens in North America, averaging an astonishing ~$27,000 per screen—the highest per‑theater average of any film that year. Worldwide, the reissue added about $14 million, pushing its total gross to $720 million, with IMAX re-release receipts reaching $24.4 million, making it the most successful IMAX re-release ever.
IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond likened the renewed interest to the Oppenheimer (2023) phenomenon, stating the result was “far beyond our expectations.” Even Nolan shared his surprise: after a decade, audiences still flocked to experience the film “as intended… on those IMAX film prints.”
Critically, Interstellar (2014) originally earned five Oscar nominations and won Best Visual Effects. Though initial reviews were mixed—some criticized its emotional beats—the film’s sentiment and visual ambition have aged well. On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds a 73% critic rating, a CinemaScore of B+, and remains beloved in retrospectives and fan polls. Today, Interstellar ranks among the top 10 highest-grossing IMAX releases ever globally (currently #8 globally).
Now, with Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, The Odyssey (2026), on the horizon, this IMAX revival isn’t just nostalgic—it’s a reminder of how Nolan has shaped our understanding of what big-screen cinema can be.
Here’s a look at each film returning to IMAX, ranked by how essential it is to experience them on the biggest screen possible.
1. Interstellar (2014) — Aug 20–25
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Mackenzie Foy, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Timothée Chalamet
Box Office: $677M worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 73% critics / 85% audience
Awards: 5 Oscar nominations, 1 win (Best Visual Effects)
Why It’s Returning:
Shot using IMAX 70mm film, Interstellar is Nolan’s most visually ambitious and emotionally resonant film. It explores time dilation, black holes, and the limits of love and science with a vast scope and striking intimacy. It’s also the highest-grossing IMAX re-release ever, earning $4.5M in North America alone during its 10th anniversary run in December 2024—across just 166 screens.
Zimmer’s Score:
Zimmer composed a minimalist, church-organ-led score based on a single word from Nolan—“love.” Recorded at London’s Temple Church, it uses pipe organ, piano, strings, and subtle electronic elements to mirror the vastness of space and the fragility of human connection.
Why IMAX Matters:
From the wormhole jump to the docking sequence, this is visual grandeur that loses its power on a TV. Every frame was designed to overwhelm—visually and emotionally.
2. Inception (2010)—Aug 20–25
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine
Box Office: $837M worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% critics / 91% audience
Awards: 8 Oscar nominations, 4 wins
Why It’s Returning:
A layered dream-heist thriller, Inception is a Nolan essential—ambitious, original, and endlessly rewatchable. Though not shot in IMAX, it was released on IMAX screens globally and remains one of the most demanded IMAX repertory screenings.
Zimmer’s Score:
One of the most iconic scores in modern cinema. The horn blasts of “Time” and the slowed-down Édith Piaf motif reflect the bending of time and reality. Zimmer collaborated with guitarist Johnny Marr, infusing melancholy into mechanical precision.
Why IMAX Matters:
The hallway fight. The city is folding onto itself. The snowy third-level fortress. None of these hit the same on a laptop screen.
3. The Dark Knight (2008)—Aug 23–25
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman
Box Office: $1.006B worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% critics / 94% audience
Awards: 8 Oscar nominations, 2 wins (including Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger)
Why It’s Returning:
The first major feature film to shoot with IMAX cameras—approximately 28 minutes of footage. This isn’t just Nolan’s most acclaimed film—it’s a turning point in blockbuster filmmaking. It changed superhero cinema forever and remains a top IMAX favorite.
Zimmer’s Score:
Zimmer co-composed with James Newton Howard. For the Joker, Zimmer used razor blades on string instruments and dissonant one-note pulses to create unease. For Batman, heroic cellos and booming percussion are undercut with dread.
Why IMAX Matters:
From the Hong Kong extraction to the unforgettable truck flip—this is the movie that taught studios IMAX wasn’t a gimmick. It was the future.
4. Dunkirk (2017)—Aug 26–28
Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Harry Styles, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh
Box Office: $527M worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 92% critics / 81% audience
Awards: 8 Oscar nominations, 3 wins (Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing)
Why It’s Returning:
A real-time survival epic told across land, sea, and air. Nolan shot most of Dunkirk on IMAX 65mm and 65mm film stock. It is his most “pure cinema” experience, where sound and image drive the story more than dialogue.
Zimmer’s Score:
A masterclass in tension. Zimmer used a ticking stopwatch (Nolan’s own), layered Shepard tones, and rising orchestral swells to build a sense of inescapable doom. It’s less music and more of a sonic pressure chamber.
Why IMAX Matters:
The dogfights, the beach, the ticking. It’s immersive, claustrophobic, and utterly overwhelming in the best way.
5. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)—Aug 24–26
Cast: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman
Box Office: $1.08B worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 87% critics / 90% audience
Awards: 1 BAFTA nomination (Visual Effects)
Why It’s Returning:
Nolan’s final Batman film is the biggest in scope—both thematically and visually. It features over an hour of IMAX footage, with massive sequences including the plane hijack, Gotham under siege, and the showdown.
Zimmer’s Score:
Zimmer built Bane’s theme using a chant (“Deshi Basara”) crowdsourced from online fans. The score is darker, heavier, and more chaotic—reflecting the city’s collapse and Bruce’s final reckoning.
Why IMAX Matters:
From Wall Street riots to the football stadium implosion, this is Nolan going full blockbuster. The size matches the stakes.
6. Batman Begins (2005)—Aug 22–24
Cast: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman
Box Office: $373M worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 84% critics / 94% audience
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar (Cinematography)
Why It’s Returning:
The one that started it all. Batman Begins rebooted the superhero genre with a grounded origin story. While not shot in IMAX, it sets the emotional and visual tone for the rest of the trilogy.
Zimmer’s Score:
Zimmer and James Newton Howard created dueling themes for Batman’s duality—raw strings for fear and swelling brass for resilience. The music subtly evolves across the trilogy.
Why IMAX Matters:
While not originally formatted for it, the re-release offers a new level of immersion to Gotham’s shadows and Scarecrow’s hallucinations.
7. Oppenheimer (2023) — Aug 22–27
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Benny Safdie
Box Office: $976M worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 93% critics / 91% audience
Awards: 13 Oscar nominations, 7 wins (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor)
Why It’s Returning:
Oppenheimer became a cinematic event in 2023, drawing massive attention for its serious subject matter and use of IMAX 65mm film and, for the first time, IMAX black-and-white film. The Trinity test sequence alone justifies this return.
Score (Ludwig Göransson):
Göransson used solo violin to reflect Oppenheimer’s internal chaos—fragile, racing, unpredictable. The score is both classical and modern, echoing the anxiety of creation and destruction.
Why IMAX Matters:
You don’t just watch Oppenheimer—you feel the existential weight of it. IMAX turns history into dread.
8. Tenet (2020)—Aug 27–28
Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine
Box Office: $365M worldwide (pandemic release)
Rotten Tomatoes: 69% critics / 76% audience
Awards: 2 Oscar nominations, 1 win (Visual Effects)
Why It’s Returning:
Nolan’s most complex film to date, Tenet, was built for IMAX—literally. Its inverted action sequences were shot with large-format cameras to maximize clarity amid chaos.
Score (Ludwig Göransson):
Zimmer was unavailable due to Dune, so Göransson stepped in. He created a pulsating, temporally reversed score—recording real instruments, reversing them, and layering them to match the film’s entropy-based logic.
Why IMAX Matters:
You may not understand everything, but you’ll feel it. Reverse car chases, bullet catch sequences, and collapsing buildings demand a wall-sized screen.
So, why is this happening now?
The Christopher Nolan IMAX re-release USA event isn’t a greatest-hits tour. It’s a carefully timed countdown to The Odyssey, Nolan’s next film, which is rumored to push the boundaries of cinematic immersion even further. As a business decision, this re-release makes even more sense because the facts speak for themselves:
- Interstellar’s re-release clearly showed there’s a massive appetite for Christopher Nolan movies’ re-release schedule in IMAX, years after premieres.
- Stats confirm premium formats like IMAX now represent 20%+ of the domestic box office, up from ~15% before the pandemic, signaling a resurgence in theatrical spectacle.
- Zimmer’s consistently innovative scoring approach is critical; his collaboration with Nolan is one of filmmaking’s most influential director-composer relationships. Who would say no to experiencing THAT magic, on the biggest screen, again?
Looking Ahead: The Odyssey
The Odyssey (July 17, 2026) is shot using upgraded IMAX film technology and features a star-studded cast, including Matt Damon (Odysseus), Tom Holland, Zendaya, Anne Hathaway, and others. Pre-sale IMAX tickets reportedly soared within minutes—proof positive that event cinema is far from fading.
From Batman Begins’ intimate trauma to Interstellar’s cosmic scale, each film in this IMAX resurgence is a testament to Nolan’s cinematic ambition and Zimmer’s musical genius. This is a festival of sensory storytelling, remounted in the format it was always meant to inhabit.
Which film are you most excited to experience in IMAX first?
