Like It Or Not, The Odyssey’s FOMO Strategy Is Good For Movies

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The marketing campaign for Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film, The Odyssey, is entering a new stage. A full trailer will debut alongside screenings of Avatar: Fire & Ash next Friday, December 19th. However, select viewers will have a chance to see even more—a six-minute prologue—a week earlier. This prologue will be shown before IMAX 70mm re-releases of Sinners and One Battle After Another, which are coming back to theaters this Friday.

This is the newest step in a strategy focused on creating buzz through limited access. While most movie trailers are released online for everyone to see, the first teaser for The Odyssey was shown only in theaters alongside Jurassic World Rebirth in July. Although the footage has since appeared online unofficially, Universal Pictures hasn’t released it themselves yet. Then, on July 17th – a year before the movie comes out – tickets went on sale for some special screenings, and many of them quickly sold out.

Many people felt this approach resembled a concert more than a movie, and it wasn’t seen as a positive thing. It seemed to go against the traditional moviegoing experience, suggesting a shift towards seeing films only a few times a year. However, The Odyssey is different – it truly is a large-scale event, and the current marketing strategy is exactly what cinemas need to attract audiences right now.

The Odyssey Is Making Movie Theaters Feel Special Again

Many believe that creating ‘event films’ is now crucial for attracting audiences to theaters. The goal is to make a movie feel like something you absolutely have to see on the big screen. While some people will always prefer the theater, most viewers need a strong reason to go instead of waiting to watch at home. Marvel Studios at its peak mastered this, and that’s why other studios tried to replicate their interconnected universes for so long.

Beyond simply making a good film, some filmmakers are now leveraging the power of specific cinema formats to draw audiences in. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer strongly highlighted the immersive experience of IMAX 70mm, suggesting it was the only way to truly see the movie, and viewers responded by actively seeking out those screenings. This year, Ryan Coogler did something similar with Sinners, and even took it a step further – a video where he thoroughly explained the various projection options became a brilliant and highly praised promotional tactic.

The new movie, The Odyssey, builds on what audiences loved before, but takes things even further. It’s not just the film itself that deserves to be seen on the big screen – the trailers are impressive too. There’s a lot of buzz about the advanced IMAX cameras being used. Universal Pictures is really emphasizing that Christopher Nolan’s latest film is best experienced in theaters, and nowhere else.

Hollywood and the theater world need to encourage people to go to the movies more often, but films like The Odyssey aren’t the answer. These big, spectacle-driven movies need to truly feel like events. Fortunately, the marketing for this film is also emphasizing the moviegoing experience itself. If audiences go to see The Odyssey in July 2026 and feel like they’ve had a memorable and unique time at the theater, then the film will have succeeded.

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2025-12-11 01:20