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Nolan's 'The Odyssey' packs IMAX theaters as fans take high-speed trains for better screens_我的网站

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A | 　　人工智能基础设施的无休止扩张，正引发美国选民的强烈反对，这可能在美国中期选举前给市场上备受青睐的人工智能交易带来政治风险。　　巴克莱银行股票战术策略团队周二（8月25日）表示，越来越多的华尔街策略师警告称，市场可能忽视了与11月大选相关的人工智能行业风险。

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Moviegoers line up at a IMAX ticket hall in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong Province, on August 15, 2026. Photo: VCGChristopher Nolan's much-anticipated The Odyssey officially opened in China on Friday, quickly becoming one of the hottest tickets of the summer movie season, with moviegoers scrambling for premium IMAX screenings and some even traveling to other cities for better viewing experiences with better screens.
Meanwhile, domestic hit Once Upon a Time in the Middle East has grossed more than 850 million yuan ($126 million), adding to the intense competition for audiences during China's packed summer movie season.
The Odyssey, which had already held limited previews in China, had grossed an estimated 240 million yuan as of Sunday, according to ticketing platform Maoyan. Its projected box office is expected to surpass 700 million yuan, potentially exceeding the 452million yuan Oppenheimer grossed in the Chinese mainland.
The Odyssey is the first feature film shot entirely using IMAX cameras and is being presented in IMAX 70mm at select theaters. Its large-format cinematography and expansive visual style have made the IMAX experience a major selling point for Chinese moviegoers.
Demand for premium IMAX screenings was already intense during the film's previews, with some theaters reporting full occupancy. After its official release, that enthusiasm has shown no sign of easing.
In Beijing, one longtime Nolan fan had been following the film since before its release and had repeatedly tried to secure a seat at the China National Film Museum's IMAX GT theater, one of the most sought-after formats for the movie.
Unable to get a ticket, the moviegoer eventually chose another well-reviewed IMAX theater and paid 180 yuan for a seat, three times the price of a normal seat, that was not particularly well positioned.
The theater was nearly full when the audience arrived, the moviegoers were largely quiet as they waited for the screening to begin. But the large-format presentation delivered the immersive audiovisual experience the audience had been anticipating.
Another moviegoer, Lin Xiao, managed to attend an IMAX screening during the previews and also noted the high attendance. She told the Global Times that audiences had already formed a long line outside the theater before the movie began.
On Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, some moviegoers have posted about traveling to other cities because their hometowns do not have IMAX GT screenings. Some have even taken high-speed trains specifically to watch The Odyssey in what they consider a better theater.
Zhang Peng, a cultural researcher and associate professor at Nanjing Normal University, told the Global Times that The Odyssey's strong reception and high attendance in China demonstrate that high-quality content, combined with the rare and highly immersive experience offered by premium formats such as IMAX GT, remains a key competitive advantage for cinemas.
The film's strong quality, coupled with its cutting-edge large-format presentation, creates a theatrical experience that cannot be easily replicated at home, showing that when cinemas can offer a sufficiently distinctive immersive experience, the big screen retains its unique social and ceremonial appeal, with audiences willing to pay a premium for such exclusivity, said Zhang.
However, film critic Liu Nandou offered a restrained forecast, predicting its Chinese mainland gross at 300 million to 800 million yuan ($41 million to $110 million).
"Nolan's films have a ceiling," he told the Global Times in a previous interview. "The threshold for understanding The Odyssey is extremely high, and it doesn't fit the broad popcorn audience."
The appeal of premium formats is not limited to The Odyssey. Several films in China's summer movie season have also embraced IMAX and other high-end formats, giving audiences more options for immersive theatrical experiences.
Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, which has grossed more than 850 million yuan at the box office and is projected to surpass 2.5 billion yuan, according to Maoyan, was specially shot for IMAX.
Rather than relying on grand battle scenes, the film is set almost entirely in a small Chinese restaurant in war-torn Iraq in 2003. Played by Shen Teng, Xu Fu is a chef looking to make a living abroad and find a quiet life. But when war suddenly erupts, he and restaurant manager Ma Junsheng, played by Jiang Qiming, choose to keep the kitchen running, serving authentic Chinese dishes and creating a safe haven for local civilians and children amid the chaos.
The film uses IMAX's large screen to present the warmth of everyday life and the details of the restaurant with greater clarity and immersion.
The Odyssey, meanwhile, uses IMAX film cameras to bring the epic scale of Homer's poem to the big screen with sweeping and visually striking imagery. All Wishes Come True! is also available in premium formats including IMAX, Dolby and CINITY, using enhanced audiovisual technology to amplify its visual effects and emotional atmosphere and help drive box-office growth, according to China's state media CCTV.
As more films made for premium formats continue to draw audiences, high-end theaters equipped with IMAX, CINITY and other technologies are seeing increased demand, giving moviegoers a wider range of viewing options.
Film industry experts said audiences are no longer satisfied simply with being able to watch a movie, but increasingly want to "watch a good movie" and "experience a film in an immersive environment."
。　　包括Jenny Yang和Alex Altmann在内的策略师在致客户的一份报告中写道，“数据中心的建设正使人工智能从一个抽象的技术话题，转变为一个切实影响生活成本的问题，使对于那些直接接触人工智能程度有限的选民而言，更高的电费、供水压力以及社区内工业设施的兴建，都使得这一问题变得极为重要。”　　巴克莱策略师团队认为，选民的抵制情绪将推动对人工智能基础设施的更严格审查，政策压力主要集中在数据中心监管方面。　　此外，Evercore ISI 和 BCA Research 的分析师也指出，全国范围内电力消耗巨大的数据中心建设热潮，已成为一个敏感的选举议题，令两大主要政党的选民感到疲惫，因为他们对不断上涨的公用事业账单日益厌倦。　　早些时候，美国银行曾在一份报告中指出，共和党在中期选举中的强劲表现将成为推动美股“大幅反弹”的催化剂。由美银的Michael Hartnett领导的团队写道，若特朗普所属政党在11月3日表现强劲，且Greg Abbott在得州成功连任，对人工智能交易将尤为利好。　　然而巴克莱的团队对这一观点反驳道，目前并未看到人工智能交易有任何“渐进式积极催化剂”，无论结果如何，他们指出，中期选举前，投资市场的表现历史上一直较为疲软。　　策略师们表示，“投资者不应认为，在当前快速推进人工智能应用且政治环境宽松并共存的背景下，这种状况将无限期地持续下去。”