Alamo Drafthouse is renaming its flagship San Francisco venue to honor Christopher Nolan. The Oscar-winning filmmaker, a passionate advocate for the big screen, will be feted later this year with a 70mm screening event.

The announcement of the rechristened venue — San Francisco New Mission will be rechristened as the Christopher Nolan Cinema — comes ahead of the director’s next cinematic adventure “The Odyssey,” which opens on July 17.

“San Francisco’s New Mission has been an icon of cinema for more than a century, and under the leadership of Alamo Drafthouse it stands at the apex of cinematic presentation, whether you’re a filmmaker or an audience member,” Nolan said. “To be honored in this way, and with this particular theater, is a thrill beyond words. I am grateful to Alamo Drafthouse Cinema for their passion and commitment to creating an ideal cinematic experience that celebrates and elevates this art form that we all love.”  

Nolan joins a formidable group of filmmakers and actors whose names adorn various Alamo Drafthouse locations, including Spike Lee, John Hughes, Ivan Reitman, Bong Joon Ho and Pam Grier.

“By dedicating New Mission in Mr. Nolan’s name, we’re celebrating and thanking a filmmaker whose work has consistently championed cinema not merely as entertainment, but as a cultural inheritance worth protecting,” says Drafthouse’s CEO Michael Kustermann. “The same auditorium that ran silent movies in 1916 now has both 70mm celluloid projection sitting beside Barco’s state-of-the-art laser projector. That trajectory feels right for the Christopher Nolan Cinema.”  

“The Odyssey” is Nolan’s follow-up to “Oppenheimer,” a critical and commercial smash with $975 million at the box office in addition to several Oscars. An adaptation of the Homer’s Greek epic, “The Odyssey” stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the king of Ithaca, and chronicles his long and perilous return home after the Trojan War. The starry ensemble includes Tom Holland as Odysseus’ son Telemachus, as well as Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong’o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron and Jon Bernthal.

Nolan’s other major films include the “Dark Knight” trilogy, “Inception,” “Interstellar,” “Dunkirk” and “Tenet.”

“At Alamo Drafthouse, when we have widescreen epics like ‘The Odyssey’ headed our way, we know that, like a Trojan Horse, each screening offers the chance to covertly remind both casual and lapsed moviegoers of how extraordinary the cinematic experience can really be,” says Alamo Drafthouse’s chief marketing officer Chaya Rosenthal. “As we celebrate 110 years of this historic theater with a remodel and new chapter for its future, we’re deeply grateful to Mr. Nolan for the leadership he’s brought to this industry. We can’t wait to work with his team on the dedication events for the Christopher Nolan Cinema.” 

The New Mission Theater opened in 1916 but went dark in 1993 and sat vacant for over two decades before Alamo Drafthouse revived the venue. The building, now a historical landmark, reopened its doors in 2015 after a restoration that recreated the original paint palette and 1930s carpeting and murals.

Manijeh Fata, executive director of San Francisco Film Commission, said Nolan’s “commitment to theatrical exhibition and the moviegoing experience makes this honor especially fitting.”

“Few cities in the world are as instantly recognizable and cinematic as San Francisco,” Fata said. “From our iconic streets and architecture to our historic theaters and exhibition venues, film is woven into the fabric of this city. We are thrilled to welcome Christopher Nolan to San Francisco and celebrate this remarkable tribute at the Alamo Drafthouse New Mission Theater, one of our city’s treasured screening spaces.”Â