Movie fans flock to the IMAX 70mm re-release of “Interstellar.”

Set on a futuristic Earth that is no longer habitable, “Interstellar” follows farmer and former NASA pilot Joseph Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey) as he and a team search for a new planet for humans. The Oscar-nominated film was a commercial success at the time of its release in 2014, grossing more than $730 million at the worldwide box office.

Now the limited re-release of the film is giving it another boost. This past weekend grossed $4.5 million from 166 theaters, with all IMAX screenings selling out. According to Variety, some online secondary markets were selling tickets for up to $215 per seat.

While re-releasing a film in theaters is nothing new, the renewed success of “Interstellar” reflects a growing trend among audiences and distributors alike for such events. In many smaller cinemas, films are often shown in new releases to fill seats. After the violent strikes in Hollywood and the pandemic that preceded them, studios and cinema operators pursued a similar strategy.

“At least 27 older films were re-released in 2024 in more than 100 domestic theaters – in many cases more than 1,000 – grossing a total of more than $90 million,” says a recent report from Variety.

Among the most notable examples was “Coraline,” a stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film that grossed $53 million when it was re-released this summer. The re-release was so successful that it returned to theaters for the third time on Halloween in the newly remastered 3D and 2D formats.

The re-release of “Interstellar” is tied to its 10th anniversary. Following the success of Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” at the 2024 Academy Awards, Paramount Pictures announced the film’s theatrical re-release in April during CinemaCon, an annual film industry conference. Warner Bros. Pictures, which co-produced the film, worked with Paramount on the revival, Variety previously reported.

The news immediately caused excitement, particularly among Nolan’s devoted fans, who have long admired his commitment to putting the theatrical experience at the forefront. His 2008 “The Dark Knight” was praised as one of the first studio films shot in part with IMAX cameras.

Some moviegoers, like Natalie Fernandez, missed seeing “Interstellar” the first time they saw it in theaters. The Miami-based research coordinator said she always hoped to see it in IMAX.

“A friend told me I couldn’t experience it on a TV screen or laptop screen,” said Fernandez, who documented her first time seeing it in IMAX last weekend with a video on TikTok. “There’s just no comparison.”