STAMFORD, Conn. and NEW YORK—The NBC television network has announced that it will extend its live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony to IMAX locations nationwide on Friday, July 26.
The plan to air the live coverage of the Opening Ceremony will be the first time that the global event has been be presented live in IMAX theaters.
As part of the Opening Ceremony, the organizers are turning one of the world's most famous waterways, the River Seine, into the world's biggest theatrical stage, NBC explained.
Instead of walking into a stadium, a four-mile-long flotilla of nearly 100 boats will carry thousands of athletes from more than 200 countries past hundreds of thousands of spectators seated on the banks of the Seine. The river parade will follow the course of the Seine past the iconic sites of Paris, from Austerlitz Bridge, beside the Jardin des Plantes, crossing through central Paris and finishing in front of the Trocadéro, where the final elements of the show and ceremony will take place, NBC reported.
IMAX will present NBC's live coverage of this summer's Opening Ceremony to more than 150 IMAX locations throughout the United States.
"We look forward to providing our Opening Ceremony coverage to audiences at IMAX locations across the country, sharing in this historic moment as the world regathers to witness the spectacular beginning of 16 days of athletic greatness against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world," said Gary Zenkel, president, NBC Olympics.
"We are excited to extend NBC's coverage of the Opening Ceremony to IMAX theatres across the U.S., allowing fans to gather and watch the highly-anticipated and awe-inspiring start to the Paris Olympic Games this July," said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX.
On March 29, an NBCUniversal promotional trailer for its coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics will begin to run in IMAX theaters nationwide. Tickets will be available for purchase at local IMAX locations and on Fandango this summer.
This will be the third time Paris has hosted the Olympics (1900 and 1924), tying London for the most as a Summer Games host. Los Angeles (1932, 1984) will tie those two cities in 2028 when it hosts the first Summer Games in the U.S. in 32 years.
NBCUniversal previously announced that the NBC broadcast network and streaming service Peacock will be the company's primary platforms for its coverage of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, scheduled for July 26-Aug. 11, 2024. Click here for more programming information and here for information about the Paralympics, which will take place Aug. 28-Sept. 8.
NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2032, which are scheduled for Paris (2024), Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2032). The host city for the 2030 Olympic Winter Games has not yet been chosen.
