Minnesota once had one of the great movie screens in America. The IMAX at the Minnesota Zoo stood seven stories tall and ran 15/70 film, the largest projection format in commercial cinema. It closed in 2019. Today the nearest true 70mm IMAX screen is a six hour drive away in suburban Chicago.

Meanwhile, the format is booming. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, shot entirely on IMAX film, became the highest grossing IMAX release of all time, with 70mm film screenings selling out weeks in advance. IMAX is actively installing new 15/70 projectors again: Colorado Springs (metro population under 800,000) and Rochester, New York both received brand new film systems in 2026. The Twin Cities metro has 3.7 million people and zero access to the format. Dune: Part Three arrives this December in 70mm IMAX, and once again Minnesotans will have to leave the state to see it as intended.

We call on Marcus Theatres and IMAX Corporation to partner on a true 15/70 IMAX film installation in Minnesota, or at minimum to publicly commit to studying the market. Marcus already operates an IMAX screen in Rochester, Minnesota, already programs 70mm film elsewhere in its circuit, and is headquartered next door in Milwaukee. The Heights Theatre in Columbia Heights regularly sells out standard 70mm screenings, proof this market shows up for film projection.

Minnesota built one of the first great IMAX audiences in the country. Give us a screen worthy of it again.

Learn more, follow the campaign, and spread the word at https://imaxmn.com

"Minnesota Zoo - IMAX Theater" by jpellgen (@1105_jp), CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 - https://flic.kr/p/2bWjro