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San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
A guide to the Grateful Dead's 2025 Meet-Up at the Movies
The Grateful Dead's annual Meet-Up at the Movies is expanding in honor of the 60th anniversary of the legendary Bay Area band's founding. Traditionally celebrated only one day each year, its 2025 edition — featuring a 4K restoration of the 1977 concert film 'The Grateful Dead Movie' — can be seen in theaters starting Wednesday, Aug. 13, through Sept. 2. What's more, this year's Meet-Up will include IMAX screenings for the first time, Wednesday-Sunday, Aug. 13-17. 'It was the greatest screening I've ever experienced of a film I've seen hundreds of times,' declared David Lemieux, Grateful Dead archivist and legacy manager, in a statement after seeing a preview of the film in IMAX. What is Meet-Up at the Movies? It is an annual event in which concert videos and films of the Grateful Dead are screened in movie theaters around the world, allowing Deadheads, as the band's superfans are known, to gather together for a communal experience. This year in the Bay Area, it also serves as a special treat for those who attended this months' anniversary concerts at Golden Gate Park earlier in the month. The first event occurred in the United States on April 20, 2011 — appropriately 4/20, the cannabis holiday — with screenings of 'The Grateful Dead Movie.' What is 'The Grateful Dead Movie'? Though released in 1977, 'The Grateful Dead Movie' was filmed in October 1974 during a five-night run at San Francisco's now-defunct Winterland Ballroom. At the time, they were thought to be the band's final performances, with the Oct. 20 show billed as 'The Last One.' The concerts featured in the film showcase the Dead's Wall of Sound — the sound system designed specifically for the band — that redefined concert audio. The film also includes interviews with band members and crew, as well as a rare portrait of the band's fans and even some animation. The movie had a budget of $600,000 and was directed by the band's frontman, Jerry Garcia, and documentarian Leon Gast. It opened in theaters on June 1, 1977. In addition to the first Meet-Up, 'The Grateful Dead Movie' was screened at the 2017 event. It has since been restored in 4K with remastered sound. Where can I see it in IMAX? 'The Grateful Dead Movie' will be available to watch on several IMAX screens across the Bay Area, including the traditional large IMAX screens at the AMC Metreon 16 in San Francisco and the Regal Hacienda Crossings in Dublin. Is it only showing in IMAX? What else will be screened? 'China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider,' a bonus live performance from the Winterland shows not included in the official film release, will make its theatrical premiere after 'The Grateful Dead Movie.' How can I get tickets? Will there be merchandise? Of course! Many theaters will offer hats, T-shirts, hoodies, posters, etc. How can I keep the party going? Last October, the band released 83 minutes of additional footage that didn't make it into its final cut on its YouTube channel. The bonus material, previously included in a 2004 DVD release, has been remastered in HD and includes performances of 'Uncle John's Band,' 'Sugaree' and a handful of extended numbers.
San Francisco Chronicle
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
This Tom Holland-Zendaya movie is selling out screenings a year before its release
Homer's ancient Greek saga 'The Odyssey' is about a heroic quest, and it appears it will be an epic achievement for cinemagoers just to get tickets to Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated 2026 film. In an inspired promotion to mark the film's one-year-out release date, Universal Pictures and IMAX made tickets available for four select 70mm IMAX screenings during the film's first weekend of release, July 16-19, 2026. Tickets went on sale at 9 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, at 26 theaters around the world, including three in Northern California, and within a few minutes nearly all were sold. As of Thursday morning, only a few seats in the front rows remained at the AMC Metreon 16, Regal Hacienda Crossings in Dublin and the Esquire IMAX Theatre in Sacramento. AMC's website briefly crashed on Wednesday. 'The Odyssey' stars Tom Holland as Telemachus, who goes on an epic search for his lost father, Odysseus (Matt Damon). Oakland native Zendaya, Holland's fiancée, has also been cast, but her role has not been revealed. The movie's cast also includes Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Elliot Page, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, Mia Goth, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo and Benny Safdie. It is the first feature-length film to be made entirely with IMAX cameras. Nolan, a champion of film technology who refuses to go digital, has been using IMAX cameras for select sequences in his movies since ' The Dark Knight ' (2008), including his Oscar-winning 2023 film ' Oppenheimer.' If advance ticket sales are an indicator, 'The Odyssey,' budgeted at $250 million, seems like a threat to match the $975 million taken in by 'Oppenheimer,' which made 20% ($190 million) of its box office sales in IMAX screenings. After 'Oppenheimer''s success, Nolan worked with IMAX to upgrade its cameras so he could film 'The Odyssey' entirely in the immersive format. Issues that Noland had with the cameras' weight and noise as well as processing of the 70mm film stock were resolved. The cameras are reportedly 30% quieter during filming. 'He forced us to rethink that side of our business,' IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond told reporters at the Cannes Film festival in May. One thing's for sure: There won't be a repeat of 'Barbenheimer,' the box office battle between Greta Gerwig's 'Barbie,' which took in $1.45 billion, and 'Oppenheimer,' both released on the same day in July 2023. Though Nolan and Gerwig are skipping the same-day release strategy this time, Gerwig's first 'Narnia' movie, based on the C.S. Lewis books, is scheduled to hit IMAX screens later in the year on Thanksgiving Day in 2026.
