SAN ANTONIO — Cinemas across the country are expected to be packed with moviegoers grabbing their Cokes and popcorns before taking a seat for "Oppenheimer," the new three-hour drama about the eponymous creator of the atomic bomb and the political pariah he became in the aftermath.
Few of those audience members, however, are making as long of a trip to see the highly anticipated film as Phil Berdecio.
"'Oppenheimer' feels like an event not to be missed," Berdecio said. "The only film being released this year that I'm more excited to see is 'Dune Part 2.'"
A 47-year-old software engineer who lives in the Houston area, Berdecio is making a three-hour trip to catch the movie in San Antonio's Rivercenter AMC—one of two theaters in Texas and just 19 in the U.S. screening "Oppenheimer" in IMAX 70mm, the large-format viewing experience championed by its director, Christopher Nolan.
And he's not alone. Nolan's well-documented devotion to the theatrical experience has trickled down to his most ardent fans, many of whom will be hitting the road this weekend to watch the filmmaker's latest in what he calls "the best possible" way to watch it. Given their other closest option is Dallas, many Austin cinephiles hungry to watch the "Oppenheimer" in the rare format will be making the trip down I-35.
That makes for an amusing role-reversal: Between San Antonio and Austin, the latter has the more thriving film industry, buoyed not just by South By Southwest but by A-list directors like Richard Linklater making it their home base. For the next couple of weeks, at least, San Antonio will be the premiere film destination between the two.
"I always want (to) experience Nolan's work in the format that he intends the audience to watch it," said Ravi, a 28-year-old data scientist who will be coming from Austin after securing his ticket in June.
For the technically uninitiated, 70mm is regarded as the best-possible projection for films; frames are more than three times larger than typical celluloid, allowing for more detail, color and, in some cases, actual image to make it on the screen. The short version: Shelling out a few extra bucks for "Oppenheimer" in 70mm is likely to afford you a more astounding cinematic experience, while IMAX 70mm adds the premium uncropped version of the film as it was shot during sequences using IMAX cameras.
70mm used to be common. But digital photography has dominated the film industry for most of the 2000s, and a dwindling number of theaters are even equipped to screen 70mm film reels (the one for "Oppenheimer" weighs in at a massive 600 pounds). Other cinemas around San Antonio besides the AMC Rivercenter are showing the regular 70mm version – including Santikos Palladium – but IMAX 70mm provides the best of both worlds: The crisply detailed visuals and the unmatched, immersive large-format experience.
As Thursday night's first showing at the Rivercenter AMC indicated, however, IMAX 70mm is a different screening technology not immune to glitches. Several moviegoers tweeted that audio on the 5 p.m. screening went out for a prolonged period of time, prompting AMC to start issuing refunds and cancel a later showing, citing "a technical issue."
"Oppenheimer" will be the first time Houston resident David Weiser sees any movie in IMAX 70mm, so long as AMC can iron out the wrinkles in time for Monday. He was already planning to be in the Alamo City for a Texas Choral Directors Association conference, and made the connection less than a week from the movie's release that he'd be in one of the few cities screening the IMAX 70mm version. Like many who will be watching the movie this weekend, Weiser is a dedicated fan of the director who's produced some of the biggest Hollywood hits of the last 20 years, including "Inception" and the "Dark Knight" trilogy.
But even he says he was "shocked" at how close opening-night screenings at Rivercenter IMAX were to selling out. He settled for a seat in the lower rows, as close to the middle as he could find for the Friday 6:30 p.m. showing.
"It's so reassuring for the future of theatrical exhibition to see a three-hour, R-rated biopic being discussed alongside major blockbusters as one of the summer's biggest movies," Weiser said.
It isn't lost on Weiser, meanwhile, that the fourth-biggest city in the country isn't screening "Oppenheimer" in IMAX 70mm, whether because no theaters there are equipped to or otherwise. He isn't alone: Other movie fans took to social media to share their surprise and dismay.
"I was a little surprised," Jacob Wolf, a 26-year-old Austin journalist, said about about the lack of IMAX 70mm options.
Wolf bought his ticket in late June. A self-proclaimed “Nolanhead” and history buff, he says the contextual story of “Oppenheimer” is also personal to him; his grandfather and great-uncle served in World War II.
He recalls experiencing IMAX 70mm previously in New York City, and is excited about the opportunity to screen Nolan's latest in the format.
“I don’t know if I’d go this far out of my way for any other movie," Wolf said. "As someone who works in the film industry now making documentaries, I understand the significance (of 70mm).”
Tickets for IMAX 70mm showings of the film at Rivercenter are elusive at this point for this weekend, and if you haven't gotten yours it's unlikely you will. As of Thursday afternoon, there were only about 60 seats open in the 428-seat auditorium for Sunday's 10:30 p.m. showing, which means unless you're willing to show up to work on Monday groggy, you're out of luck for opening weekend. All other IMAX 70mm screenings are sold out, as are all but one of the Rivercenter's regular IMAX Digital showings (9:20 p.m. on Sunday).
It isn't out of the question to suggest that those going through the trouble of securing an IMAX 70mm ticket know the value of the format. For movie fans like Weiser, the hope is that sold-out screenings will keep demand for it alive beyond the determination of filmmakers like Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and James Cameron.
"It's a phenomenon that can probably only be linked to films from specific filmmakers," Weiser said. "The type of big-name filmmakers who champion celluloid and are innovative with their use of the format."
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