The AMC Rivercenter is just one of two Texas theaters showing the blockbuster in IMAX 70mm, but the projection technology has failed on several occasions.
SAN ANTONIO — IMAX 70mm screenings of the highly anticipated summer blockbuster “Oppenheimer” arrived with a dud Thursday night at downtown’s AMC Rivercenter, where the first public screening was cut short due to audio issues and a later showing was canceled outright.
Moviegoers who were anticipating watching the latest movie from “Inception” and “Tenet” director Christopher Nolan in what he calls “the best-possible format” instead shared their disappointment on social media, pointing out that while AMC was offering refunds, all remaining IMAX 70mm screenings of the film were 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.
An AMC spokesperson told KENS 5 on Friday afternoon that repairs to the IMAX 70mm system were ongoing, and that the theater expected the screenings to resume “beginning with Saturday morning showtimes.”
Yet problems persisted throughout the weekend—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 it’s caused frustration for moviegoers who made the trip from Austin, Houston or elsewhere, hoping to catch the much-anticipated drama in a rare theatrical format.
It’s unknown if AMC Rivercenter employees are being directed to tell arriving moviegoers that the film will instead be shown in the digital laser scan instead of 70mm, but one theater worker told KENS 5 they essentially can’t predict when the IMAX 70mm technology will 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.”
As of 5 p.m. Friday, Monday’s 12:15 p.m. matinee showing is the earliest tickets can be secured for “Oppenheimer” in IMAX 70mm at the Rivercenter, but seats remained available for the regular-format digital version as well as some for IMAX digital.
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