The Olympic Games have long united people globally, and this year marks a historic first as audiences will also gather in movie theaters for the 2024 Paris Summer Games.
NBC has partnered with both IMAX and AMC to bring this unprecedented Olympic experience to audiences in a theatrical setting. The Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Summer Games will be broadcast live in more than 150 IMAX theaters nationwide on July 26, marking the first time the global event will be presented live in the large-screen format.
Then, beginning July 27, 160 AMC locations will be screening select live daytime coverage from NBC each day. Screenings will start between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. ET daily, depending on the schedule of events, and will include coverage of sports including basketball, swimming, volleyball, and track and field. Fans seeking a more private big-screen experience can also rent out entire IMAX and AMC theaters. The “experiment,” as Deadline’s Bruce Haring calls it, will run through the end of the Games on August 11.
READ MORE: Summer Olympics Events In Paris To Be Offered In AMC, IMAX Movie Theaters (Deadline)
Virtual watch parties were the inspiration for the NBC partnership, Ryan Noonan, VP of corporate communications at AMC Theatres, tells David Artavia. “Sports fans like to cheer together, and during the last [Summer] Olympics, we noticed the watch parties across the United States that NBC showcased during their coverage,” Noonan said.
“Whether it was a hometown crowd coming together to cheer on their local Olympic athlete or youth sports clubs gathering to root for their favorite competitors, there was clearly interest in these gatherings and group watch parties.”
“This is a whole new ball game,” Jason Squire, host of The Movie Business podcast and professor emeritus at USC School of Cinematic Arts, told Artavia, describing the initiative as a “win-win” for everyone involved.
Movie theaters, he said, are continuing to search for innovative ways to sell tickets this summer, which is typically the “most profitable time of year” for the movie business.
“The film industry is distressed,” Squire explains. “Showing the Olympics on the big screen is a test to see how many seats theaters can fill without the draw of big celebrities or big-budget movies.”
READ MORE: You can watch live Olympics coverage at a movie theater this summer. Here’s what a ticket gets you. (Yahoo! Entertainment)
The plans for the opening ceremony are truly unique, marking the first time the event will be held outside of a stadium. Instead, the organizers will transform the River Seine into a massive theatrical stage.
A flotilla of nearly 100 boats will carry thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries along a four-mile route, passing iconic Parisian landmarks from the Austerlitz Bridge to the Trocadéro, where the final elements of the show will take place.
IMAX execs detailed the innovations the company is bringing to the table for the upcoming Olympics during a panel discussion at the NAB Show in April. The session, “Going for Gold: How IMAX Will Stream an Awe-Inspiring Viewing Experience for the Olympics Opening Ceremony,” was moderated by LTN head of global products Rick Young, and featured Greg Ciaccio, VP of post-production for original content and image capture at IMAX, and Vikram Arumilli, general manager of streaming and consumer technology.
“We try to pick very special events,” Arumilli commented. “This isn’t going to be your typical opening ceremony… it’s not going to be a bunch of athletes walking around a track, it’s going to happen on the Seine, all the athletes are going to be on boats, it’s going to be a pretty amazing visual spectacle. And we feel like it really fit well with what IMAX stands for.”
Ciaccio emphasized the unique value of watching live events in an IMAX theater, comparing it to the unparalleled experience of attending a live concert. Despite the growth of home entertainment systems, he says, the IMAX experience remains unmatched in terms of immersion and quality.
Aside from the inability to conduct a rehearsal of the event, Ciaccio said that the biggest challenge lies in delivering a consistently high-quality experience to audiences via DCPS, with their enormous bit-rate demands.
“Obviously, we can’t be streaming 500, 600 megabits to the theater,” he says, “So we want to make sure that we get the most bang for our buck, so that we’re using that bit-rate as efficiently as possible.”
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