There are only about 30 70mm IMAX movie theater screens in the world. These huge screens have the technology to project real film reels, not just the digital copies used in most IMAX theaters. One of them, a 76-foot-tall beast, sits in the Upper West Side’s AMC Lincoln Square 13, which holds 614 moviegoers at a time. That screen has long been iconic — but over the last four weeks, it has become something more like a venue for gladiatorial combat. Everyone wants to see “Project Hail Mary,” and everyone who’s anyone wants to see it in 70mm IMAX.

It’s a shame they might not be able to. Despite AMC running multiple showtimes a day for three weeks, early tickets to the aptly-dubbed “Project Hail Mary: The IMAX 70MM Experience” sold out quickly. Now, many IMAX screens are switching over to playing “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” — and those who can’t snag a showtime will have to settle for Dolby, SCREENX or the hellish 4DX. Over the last year especially, the rush to see a film in premium format has sharply defined film culture and conversation. Director Ryan Coogler’s viral video breaking down formats for “Sinners” sealed the deal: If you’re not maximizing your cinematic experience, you’re doing it wrong.

This isn’t the first time audiences have felt this way. In 2008 and 2009, “The Dark Knight” and “Avatar” cemented IMAX and 3D as necessary elements of cinema. But back then, the energy felt less all-consuming. If audiences couldn’t view “The Dark Knight” in IMAX, they’d settle for a normal screen. These days, that’s not the case. Movie theaters are messy, tickets are expensive and films end up on streaming sooner rather than later. When audiences choose to see something in theaters, they’re looking for mind-bending, bone-rattling experiences, and premium formats have the chops to give them that.

On opening weekend, a healthy 55% of the “Project Hail Mary” audience shelled out extra cash to watch it in a premium format. Can’t you hear the gears turning in the heads of the studio executives? IMAX now operates as an ultimate pedigree-booster, a way to loudly telegraph to audiences that an original film is worth a trip to the cineplex. When writing “Sinners” — which was re-released in IMAX twice to meet demand — Coogler initially envisioned shooting on 16mm film, a quieter format he used on his debut indie film “Fruitvale Station.” When he pitched “Sinners” to Warner Brothers, executive Jesse Ehrman urged him to consider something larger. Coogler and now-Oscar-winning cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapow pivoted to shooting on Ultra Panavision 70 and IMAX film, and the rest is history. 

That intersection between auteur-driven filmmaking and electric audience experience is becoming Hollywood’s new wave in the face of franchise fatigue. With “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan leveraged the IMAX muscle to gross close to $1 billion for a historical drama about the creation of the atomic bomb. He’ll likely repeat his results this summer, when “The Odyssey” storms into theaters with Trojan horse-like grandiosity. We’ll also get IMAX releases from Greta Gerwig, Steven Spielberg, Alejandro Iñárritu and J.J. Abrams this year, topped off with the conclusion to Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” saga. “Dune: Part Three” promises to be an especially big draw: After the first two visually thrilling installments, Villeneuve now has the clout to crowd out “Avengers: Doomsday” — which shares a Dec. 18 release date — for IMAX exclusivity.

Thanks in great part to the format, now is a colorful and exciting time to go to the movies. But sweeping IMAX-ification has brought some alarming side effects. For one, there seems to be more abject chatter about mechanics than organic discussion about films themselves. When “The Brutalist” revived VistaVision last year, superfans of director Brady Corbet became insufferable as they praised a technique no one really understood. The IMAX obsession can also feel gimmicky, a critique cinephiles have often leveled against Marvel movies. Funny, considering the IMAX countdown looks like it could be the adrenaline-inducing graphic for a rollercoaster.

But who doesn’t like rollercoasters? If you were lucky enough to attend the “Project Hail Mary: The IMAX 70MM Experience,” you might not have left Lincoln Square deeply contemplating the film’s gestures toward happy globalism. Probably, you left gleefully replaying cinematographer Greg Fraser’s stunning light show in your head, made all the more enticing on a massive screen. Just like a toddler after their first episode of “Teletubbies,” you were hooked. For better or worse, IMAX now has us all under its spectacular thumb.

Contact Shrish Bulusu at [email protected].