SAN ANTONIO — IMAX 70mm screenings of the highly anticipated summer blockbuster "Oppenheimer" arrived with a dud at downtown's AMC Rivercenter on opening weekend when audio issues resulted in screenings that were delayed or canceled altogether.
AMC told customers it would provide refunds in the instance of canceled showings, and also provided them a courtesy screening in the more common IMAX digital format so long as it wouldn't run into the next showtime.
Moviegoers who were anticipating watching the latest movie from "Inception" and "Tenet" director Christopher Nolan in what he calls "the best-possible format" shared their disappointment on social media all weekend, pointing out that while AMC was offering refunds, they likely wouldn't have been able to buy a ticket to another IMAX 70mm screenings of the film; all were eventually sold out for opening weekend.
Many of those fans were coming from elsewhere in Texas. The AMC Rivercenter is one of 19 U.S. theaters – and just two in Texas, the other being in Dallas – equipped to project "Oppenheimer" in the IMAX 70mm format, which gives the story about the father of the atomic bomb uncommon visual clarity while extending the frame to fill the entire IMAX screen for certain sequences.
The technical issues persisted through the weekend, but an Rivercenter theater employee told KENS 5 Tuesday afternoon that all IMAX 70mm screenings played without a problem on Monday and thus far on Tuesday. They emphasized that tests were conducted for several weeks in advance to "Oppenheimer's" opening, and chalked the opening-weekend issues up to an air pressure component that's been replaced.
Frustrated moviegoers
Multiple moviegoers told KENS 5 their Saturday and Sunday IMAX 70mm screenings were canceled, and replaced instead with the more common, less vivid IMAX digital version of the film so long as it wouldn't interfere with the next scheduled showtime. In these cases, they were provided refunds.
The regular IMAX format is functioning as it should, but the canceled 70mm screenings sparked frustration for moviegoers who made the trip from Austin, Houston or elsewhere, hoping to catch the much-anticipated drama in a rare theatrical format.
Some patrons told KENS 5 they were unaware they'd be watching a different version of the film until minutes before showtime. One theater worker told KENS 5 on Sunday they essentially can't predict when the IMAX 70mm technology might fail. As a result, some audience members say their respective screenings failed within mere minutes of the movie starting.
"We understand there is huge consumer demand for these 70mm IMAX showtimes," Ryan Noonan, vice president of corporate communications at AMC, told KENS 5 on Friday afternoon. "Once the 70mm IMAX system resumes operations, we are committed to programming these showtimes in a way that accommodates that demand."
Each IMAX 70mm screening of "Oppenheimer" – which beat projections on a historic box office weekend – sold out at AMC Rivercenter for opening weekend, and the trend is continuing for the start of the work week. Few seats remain in the 400-plus-seat IMAX auditorium for Monday's three showtimes, as is the case for most afternoon and evening screenings this week.
But seats remained available for the regular-format digital version, as well as some for IMAX digital.
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