Cinemark Seven Bridges in Woodridge will screen Dune: Part Three in IMAX 70mm on Dec. 14, four days before the film opens nationwide.
The early screening is part of IMAX's Insider Screenings program, according to an IMAX listing that names 25 U.S. venues and nine in Canada for the Dec. 14 event. Illinois appears on the venue list. The film's wide release is Dec. 18.
The Woodridge multiplex has been drawing film fans from across the region since its IMAX 70mm projector went live earlier this year. Cinemark installed the projector just weeks before Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" opened on July 17, the Chicago Tribune reported. That film was the first feature shot entirely in IMAX film format.
The theater was one of 25 nationwide showing "The Odyssey" in IMAX 70mm, according to the Tribune. The format uses physical 70-millimeter film rather than digital projection, producing what enthusiasts consider a sharper, more immersive image.
How Woodridge got the projector
Seven Bridges received its IMAX 70mm system under a deal IMAX and Cinemark announced in October 2025. That agreement called for three Cinemark locations to receive IMAX 70mm projectors: Seven Bridges in Woodridge, Carefree Circle in Colorado Springs and Tinseltown in Rochester, New York, according to TechMyMoney. The same deal upgraded all of Cinemark's U.S. IMAX screens to IMAX with Laser, a 4K digital system.
The projectors themselves are scarce. They have not been manufactured in nearly 50 years, Cinemark spokesperson Julia McCartha told the Tribune. IMAX retrofits and rebuilds existing units.
IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond said in a video posted to X, as quoted by the Tribune: "So we retrofit them, we rebuild them and part of our strategy is to see how far we can take it. There's just not that many around."
A destination for film fans
The Woodridge theater's single IMAX 70mm auditorium holds just under 250 people, the Tribune reported. During "The Odyssey" screenings, Cinemark ran roughly five showtimes a day, starting as early as 7:45 a.m. and stretching past 2 a.m.
John Marks, an Indiana resident, drove his family across state lines overnight to catch a 2 a.m. screening in July, the Tribune reported. Peter Spedale, 40, a member of the Chicago Indie Critics, told the Tribune the experience rivaled a major concert tour for film fans.
Chicago's two IMAX theaters lack the taller aspect ratio needed to display films shot in IMAX 70mm at full height, film enthusiast Emily Ward told the Tribune. Ward, 33, has spent years tracking screen dimensions across the region and campaigning for a full IMAX 70mm installation in Chicago.
For Dune: Part Three, ticket-on-sale dates and showtimes vary by location, according to IMAX. Residents can check local listings at the IMAX Theatre Finder or at Cinemark's website.
