Your Guide to Star Wars (plus other movies) in Des Moines (but mostly just Star Wars)
If you’re one of the millions anticipating the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens this week, the question isn’t so much if you’re going to see the movie, but how.
In Des Moines, we are lucky enough to have three choices in format: Standard and 3D (both projected digitally), or IMAX (projected on film).
The Science Center of Iowa IMAX Dome Theater is one of only seven theaters in the US screening The Force Awakens on 70mm IMAX film. Why is that significant? For one thing, many cinephiles prefer to see films projected in their native formats. The Force Awakens was filmed in 35mm, with at least one sequence filmed in 70mm IMAX. While there are many IMAX theaters around the country, most of them have converted over to Digital IMAX, which not only means there has been a digital conversion, but the format is not as robust anyway. This Slashfilm article is a great explainer on the differences between the formats.
Tickets for the IMAX screenings are already sold out from Thursday through Sunday, with just a few seats left for the Sunday late-night screening. Several showings are also sold out at Flix Brewhouse, which offers reserved seating, as are early shows Thursday night at Jordan Creek Cinema. At the Carmine Wynnsong Theater, where the movie is showing on seven screens, tickets remain for only one 7pm Standard showing and both 3D showings.
Also sold out is the Star Wars Marathon Event at the Jordan Creek Cinema, which will screen all seven films in the series in numerical order, beginning at 3am Thursday.