Far And Wide.

Three North Texas Theaters Will Screen The Hateful Eight In 70mm.

When tickets to opening day screenings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens went on sale — two months in advance, mind you — they were scooped up in record-breaking amounts, selling eight times as many as the last film in the franchise did on its actual opening night.

Lest it be forgotten, though, the new Star Wars isn't the only huge opening this month — or the hardest ticket to score, for that matter. Announced earlier today were the 100 theaters nationwide that will host screenings of Quentin Tarantino's new western feature The Hateful Eight in glorious 70mm. And three such venues happen to be located right here in North Texas.

Those would be AMC Northpark 15 (8687 North Central Expressway, Dallas), Cinemark West Plano and XD (3800 Dallas Parkway, Plano) and AMC The Parks at Arlington 18 (3861 South Cooper Street, Arlington). Tickets to those screenings are on sale here.

It's a pretty big deal, too, as the number of theater's being retrofitted to be able to handle the antiquated stock — a move that is costing these theaters upwards of $80,000 — is about half of the amount initially anticipated. That shouldn't be a huge shock, as the last film to be shot in Ultra Panavision 70 was 1966 Charlton Heston vehicle Khartoum. (Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master was distributed in a similar 70mm format back in 2012, but that film was shot in 65mm, and received an even more limited release.)

Tarantino hopes that more than just cinephiles appreciate his efforts here, as he's releasing the longer 70mm cut of The Hateful Eight on Christmas day, a week ahead of the edited-down wide release. These screenings, he's said, should be thought of more as an event, with special musical overtures preceding these screenings. These showings will also feature an intermission between acts, as well as a souvenir program.

And, y'know, the simple fact that this film was shot on 70mm at all is just pretty baller on its own. It's a rarely used format that's wider and more detailed than we're used to these days, and an experience that few folks in this movie-going generation have had a chance to experience in person.

So, yeah, take that, Star Wars.