This remains the biggest deal Comcast and NBCUniversal has made that is comparable to a Bob Iger acquisition when he ran Disney (Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 21st Century Fox), although the company attempted to acquire 21st Century Fox in 2018 and Warner Bros in 2025 before backing out.
Do you think this acquisition was worth it in the end?
This was part of the “National Air and Space Museum 50th Anniversary Film Series” at the Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater in Washington DC. On the last Monday of every month, they’ll play a movie about space or aviation, with April’s movie being Pixar’s WALL-E.
Since WALL-E wasn’t processed into IMAX, the location opted to play it through a Blu-ray Disc instead (not even a 4K one which is crazy). So the audience sat there looking at the Blu-ray menu, the Disney Blu-ray logo, and the anti-piracy screen.
It makes you wonder if the DCP print could’ve been used at all or they just didn’t have access to it (or it was too old since it was from 2008).
The last picture is the schedule for the year. I bet this blunder could happen again to one of these movies. My bet is Disney’s Planes since that wasn’t originally released in IMAX.
Full Schedule
February 2: The Right Stuff (1983)
February 23: Sully (2016) in IMAX
March 30: Hidden Figures (2016)
April 27: Wall-E (2008)
May 25: Top Gun: Maverick (2022) in IMAX
June 29: Galaxy Quest (1999)
July 27: Planes (2013)
August 31: Interstellar (2014) in IMAX
September 28: Redtails (2012)
October 26: The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
November 30: The Martian (2015) in IMAX
December 28: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) in IMAX