Christopher Nolan

Few people have done more than Christopher Nolan since the pandemic to demonstrate why one of Los Angeles’ most beloved asset classes still matters.

Nolan’s “The Odyssey” became a $1.6 billion global blockbuster this summer, but the more consequential number might be the nearly $486 million it generated on IMAX screens, making it the highest-grossing IMAX release ever. 

The first feature shot entirely with IMAX film cameras turned premium exhibition space into part of the attraction, sending moviegoers searching for scarce 70mm screens and helping IMAX post its best summer in company history.

That was most apparent in Hollywood. TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard became the world’s highest-grossing IMAX location for “The Odyssey,” generating $4.4 million from the film by the end of August — more box-office revenue than the landmark theater produced during the entirety of 98 of its previous 99 years.

The phenomenon also helped push U.S. and Canadian theaters to a record $4.76 billion summer, nearly 30 percent above 2025, with attendance up 22.6 percent compared to last year. 

To be clear, moviegoing remains far below its pre-pandemic frequency: Theaters sold roughly 30 percent fewer tickets through mid-August than during the same period in 2019, before COVID arrived.

But Nolan has also put money behind the physical infrastructure of moviegoing. He is among 35 filmmakers who purchased Westwood’s historic Village Theatre, where a $25 million restoration is underway ahead of a planned 2027 reopening under the American Cinematheque. 

That investment arrives amid a broader retention of L.A.’s movie houses. Sony and Alamo Drafthouse signed a long-term deal this summer to restore Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome and reopen the adjacent 14-screen former ArcLight complex in early 2028, while other historic theaters from Glendale to Westwood are again being treated as cultural anchors.

Nolan has maintained the screen and theater part of the product. And, in a city whose identity and economy were built around making movies, keeping people excited about leaving home means more than Hollywood can tell right now.