by Xorakios on 6/9/25, 12:52 AM
I couldn't get an email or post to work correctly to the author, so hoping they find this.
Thank you to the shout out to my father, Preston Fleet, for his work on developing Omnimax and everything is the article is factually correct. He died young after also building Fotomat and WD40 (and funding the Cabaret movie, for which he shared an Oscar). He shied away from the spotlight and named everything after his contributors because he was kind. And a totally shock the author knew about his presidency at the American Theatre Organ Society, which my mother followed after his death. Unfortunate selfish to say in a public forum, but really just want to thank the article's author in some way
by EvanAnderson on 6/8/25, 11:02 PM
The Omnimax theatre at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal is worth the trip if you're in the area. They still show the "wormhole" and show off the speaker stacks outside the dome during the pre-show.
by jsolson on 6/8/25, 10:43 PM
I was surprised to see a mention of the Carnegie Science Center's Omnimax and the year 1978 -- my recollection was that this theater didn't open until I was both alive and cognizant enough of the world around me to remember it.
That seems consistent with this announcement from 2017 that the theater was going to close (citing a quarter century): https://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/rangos-omnimax-theater-to...
I couldn't find any press covering it from 1978, although this directory of IMAX/Omnimax theaters from 1992 matches my recollection of it opening in ~1991.
by classichasclass on 6/8/25, 10:18 PM
I spent a great deal of time at Reuben H. Fleet as a kid growing up in San Diego, playing in the science museum and watching whatever Omnimax movie was on. Didn't matter what it was, they were almost always great eye candy. Even saw, later, a Pink Floyd-themed laser light show projected on the dome. Never failed to impress.
by jrowen on 6/9/25, 1:54 AM
It might seem a little bit deceptive that an attraction called the Sphere does not quite pull off even a hemisphere of "payload," but the same compromise has been reached by most dome theaters.This paragraph is bizarre to me, framed from a presumably extremely niche "Sphere-as-dome-theater" perspective. I would think that, for most people, the Sphere is the exterior part and it delivers and is every bit as innovative as anyone who has seen a picture of it would say. I don't understand the effort to downplay that and say "oh forget that part it's actually just a not-even-spherical dome theater."
by clhodapp on 6/9/25, 12:30 AM
Given the expense of running a proper Omnimax theater and the lack of new content to keep it going, it seems like the only way Omnimax can be properly preserved in the long term is through VR.
by dmm on 6/9/25, 1:18 PM
Great article! Thanks for sharing your research into the history of these super interesting theaters and projection systems.
There is something I've wondered about though:
> While far from inexpensive, digital projection systems are now able to match the quality of Omnimax projection.
Are they really? The St Louis Science Center Omnimax was switched from the 70mm film system to "laser 4k" digital projection in 2019. I've only been to one show but it didn't seem particularly sharp, with large clearly visible pixels. It was very bright, with high contrast, though.
4k seems like a pretty low resolution for such a large screen?
by necubi on 6/9/25, 2:52 AM
Fascinating article! I have many fond childhood memories of the IMAX (I guess Omnimax? Although I’ve never heard it called that) dome theater at the Tech Museum in San Jose. I probably saw “Everest” half a dozen times.
I’m also slightly embarrassed to just now learn that the opening sequence where the speakers and backing structure for the screen are shown looked so real because…it was. They weren’t projecting an image, just turning on lights so you could see back through the perforated metal screen!
by ocdtrekkie on 6/8/25, 11:25 PM
So fun fact: For many years I thought IMAX was Omnimax. I had a very bad experience in an Omnimax theater when I was younger (I found it extremely disorienting) and avoided pretty much all IMAX showings for years. I forget how I found out IMAX screens were flat...
by madcaptenor on 6/8/25, 10:26 PM
I miss the Omnimax they had at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. They closed it during the pandemic and it never reopened.
by thrdbndndn on 6/9/25, 9:51 AM
> Fortuitously, almost simultaneously the Multiscreen Corporation was ..
> IMAX made an obvious basis for a high-resolution projection system, and so the then-named IMAX Corporation was added ...
I got confused about the name of the company and even Wikipedia seems to be very inconsistent about it [1].
What exactly was it called in 1960s and 70s, "Multiscreen Corporation" or "IMAX Corporation"?
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMAX_Corporation:
It says:
> IMAX is a Canadian corporation that is based in Mississauga, Ontario. The company was founded in 1967 when three filmmakers—Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor and Robert Kerr—incorporated IMAX Corporation
No mention of "Multiscreen Corporation" other than in the infobox.
by SyzygyRhythm on 6/8/25, 11:32 PM
I went to Space Camp in Huntsville in '89 or so. One of the perks was a daily showing at their Omnimax theater. Felt absolutely incredible at the time. The most memorable moment was a scene where they filmed the Space Shuttle tower escape system--basically a basket on a zipline that goes into a sand pit. Everyone in the theater instinctively leapt forward when the basket hit the sand. The difference, I suppose, is that the screen filled your peripheral vision as well. I didn't experience the same level of immersiveness until VR, much later on.
by ckmiller on 6/8/25, 11:06 PM
Growing up in Cincinnati, the Omnimax at the museum center was a huge influence. The light tunnel intro (one of many adapted from the Graphic Films Corporation logo [1]) absolutely blew my mind and gave me a lifelong obsession with computer graphics.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-09F87C6Ps
by rjmunro on 6/9/25, 11:38 AM
"Back to the Future: The Ride" was also an Omnimax dome system, but with moving platforms instead of seats. It was installed in 3 locations, with 2 screens at each, so a total of 6 screens.
I'm not sure if any later similar rides used a similar system, (for example Disney's Soarin') or if they are new enough to be digital from the start.
by pgib on 6/9/25, 4:50 AM
We had an Omnimax theatre in Vancouver, BC, and I always loved going to it as a kid. The little introduction before any feature was a highlight where they showed off the capabilities and turned on the lights behind the screen at each speaker so the audience could actually see where the sound was coming from.
by empressplay on 6/9/25, 6:37 AM
I remember going to an Omnimax in Seattle on a school trip in 1987, they were showing (thank you Internet) "Block-buster - clips from a helicopter ride around Seattle’s Space Needle, a motorcycle pursuit through downtown Atlanta, Georgia, a ride through the Kamakazi curve of the Orient Express roller coaster at Worlds of Fun in Kansas City, Missouri, and a speeding bobsled at Lake Placid." Anyway, it made us all very queasy!
by jefflinwood on 6/9/25, 12:14 PM
This was a great article!
I saw "To Fly!" for the first time at the Smithsonian Air and Space Dulles location (Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center) on their IMAX screen two years ago. Definitely a film of its moment, and I can see how that influenced future science film documentaries.
My dad worked for Spitz doing Omnimax installations and planetariums, but I don't know any of the details. I would assume this was probably the late 70s or early 80s.
by sailfast on 6/9/25, 6:18 PM
Awesome article. I have fond FOND memories of all of these things from MSI Chicago growing up. It was an epic experience to see such a film.
by russellbeattie on 6/8/25, 10:13 PM
I grew up outside of Boston and as a kid we went to the Museum of Science's Omnimax dome quite a few times.
As I grew up, I started seeing/hearing about IMAX movies, and didn't realize they were different until I went to one in another part of the country. I was very excited to go, as it had been a long time since I had been to an Omnimax.
I was pretty confused and disappointed, which is a weird reaction to have the first time in an IMAX theater. "It's just a big screen... Where's the dome?"
by joelccr on 6/9/25, 10:04 AM
We had a proper IMAX in my home town which was knocked down partly due to locals complaining its beach-front location was making it an eyesore. I try to see any new 15/70 IMAX films (essentially, anything by Christopher Nolan) at the London BFI, one of only three screens left in the UK.
by vFunct on 6/8/25, 10:09 PM
First large format system I experience was Omnimax in Fort Worth in the 80's. Much more immersive than IMAX. Actually, the Apple Vision Pro movies reminds me of that experience now.
by themadturk on 6/9/25, 2:52 AM
So glad to see the mention of "The Dream Is Alive." I love the movie, but the soundtrack has haunted me for years. Excellent and informative article.
by bythreads on 6/9/25, 12:52 AM
Thanks for this, well written
by mikepurvis on 6/9/25, 4:26 PM
I grew up going to the Omnimax theatre at the Ontario Science Centre; that image of the giant projector going up the angled elevator is a very familiar sight. I loved the little short films they showed there, but it's obvious it was an incredibly bulky and obtuse format that was unlikely to be of much competition against digital alternatives.
Sadly the OSC as a whole is now being demolished after years of under-investment and mismanagement, and the Cinesphere (IMAX) at Ontario Place is likewise in dire straits.
by flymasterv on 6/9/25, 12:01 AM
Who put the bomp…