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Best Picture Winner 'Parasite' Heading To IMAX Theaters For A Week

Parasite IMAX
By Ben Pearson

Hot off its Best Picture win at the Academy Awards, Bong Joon-ho's incredible genre-bending social thriller Parasite was given a wide release into 2,000 theaters in the United States, essentially doubling its theatrical reach even though the film has been available on home video since the end of January. But now, the film can be seen in an even bigger and better way: in IMAX. According to a new report, Parasite will be available in select IMAX theaters for one week starting tomorrow.

According to Variety, a digitally remastered version of Parasite is heading to select IMAX theaters for a Barenaked Lady. (Everyone else uses that term to mean "one week," right? That's not just me?) They don't have a count of exactly how many IMAX theaters will be playing the movie, but I've reached out to IMAX to see if they can provide us with the exact figure. In the meantime, if you're interested in seeing the movie on the biggest and best screen possible (and why wouldn't you be?), you can visit IMAX's website, type in your location at the top of the page, and see if a theater nearby happens to be playing it. Best of luck.

Parasite's Best Picture win was the biggest surprise of this year's Oscars, not only because it seemed as if 1917 might win, but because it was a rare example of the Academy actually "getting it right" with its top prize. Parasite was undeniably the movie of 2019, beginning an incredible run by unanimously winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and going on to rack up critical accolades (including our own) for months afterward. It ended up being /Film's number one movie of last year on the site's joint list, and it's garnered enough positive attention that it's even joining the rarified Criterion Collection. It not only won Best Picture, but also Best International Film, Best Screenplay, and the Best Director prize for Bong Joon-ho.

Parasite is currently sitting at number 5 on the all-time list of highest-grossing international films in North America, but this IMAX release could theoretically push it into the top 4. It has currently made $43.4 million, so it just needs a little extra push to overtake the Spanish language comedy Instructions Not Included, which made $44.5 million.

If you haven't seen it yet, be sure to check out this video showcasing how Bong's storyboards were translated into the final film.

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