Christopher Nolan's big-budget adaptation of The Odyssey, opening this week in thousands of movie theaters across the United States, is the first commercial feature shot entirely with IMAX film cameras - those monstrous, deafening devices that weigh hundreds of pounds and block actors' eye contact. But only about two dozen domestic theaters are playing the movie the way its director intends it to be seen. The rest will be showing slightly different versions, cropped into smaller aspect ratios or projected without the clarity of the original film stock. Marketing for The Odyssey has relentlessly emphasized that it was shot in IMAX, with Matt Damon claiming IMAX 70 mm offers the "full impact of how it was shot." But the reality is that when a movie shot in IMAX's 1.43:1 aspect ratio is projected onto a different-size screen, theaters excise parts of the frame - up to 40 percent of the image, depending on the screen. In the United States, IMAX 70-mm projectors are concentrated in a few metropolitan areas, and there's only one in the entire Southern Hemisphere. IMAX obsessives are reportedly flying cross-country to see The Odyssey at certain theaters, while others pay high premiums for resale tickets (some listed on eBay for hundreds of dollars). Then there are screenings that aren't true 70-mm, 1.43:1 experiences but carry the IMAX branding - annoying moviegoers for years, now known as "LIEMAX." The scarcity stems from logistical challenges: screens must accommodate specific dimensions, ceilings aren't high enough, and the reels weigh hundreds of pounds and require forklifts. Still, this system works for IMAX: ticket sales hit a record $1.28 billion globally last year. As directors like Denis Villeneuve and Ryan Coogler tout IMAX as the future, the language can start to chafe when so few theaters deliver the true experience. If this is cinema's future, not everyone will get to share it.