Spider-Man and The Odyssey are splitting up IMAX screens after a record-breaking weekend

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is joining The Odyssey in IMAX theaters after both films led the biggest weekend in box office history. On Monday, IMAX announced that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will play in select digital IMAX locations across North America starting Thursday, August 6th. The move ends the exclusive three-weekend IMAX window that The Odyssey had held on those screens.

The release plan is a shared-screen split, not a full handoff. Spider-Man: Brand New Day goes into select digital IMAX auditoriums while The Odyssey continues its run, so both titles compete for the same premium-format capacity in North America. IMAX is limiting Spider-Man to digital IMAX locations rather than opening every IMAX house, which keeps the dual booking narrow and schedule-driven.

For studios and exhibitors, the decision shows how premium-format inventory is allocated when two hits land back to back. Digital IMAX seats are finite; putting both films on those screens forces operators to balance share of screen time against demand from two event titles. Builders of ticketing, scheduling, and yield systems will see the same problem: scarce high-margin capacity has to be split when exclusivity ends and a second title is added mid-run.

The backdrop is a record box-office weekend led by both movies, followed immediately by a change in IMAX distribution. The Odyssey’s three-weekend exclusive run had locked premium screens; Spider-Man’s entry into select digital IMAX sites turns that exclusivity into a shared window. That is a market signal that IMAX is prioritizing fill and dual demand over protecting a single title’s full exclusive stretch once the next tentpole is ready.

What to watch next is how wide the “select” digital IMAX footprint becomes after August 6th and whether The Odyssey keeps prime slots once Spider-Man: Brand New Day is on those screens. Any further expansion beyond the initial North American digital IMAX set would show whether this split is a short bridge or the new default when two blockbusters both need premium format at once.