It’s been a big year for movie anniversaries, and to celebrate 30 years of one of the best space movies ever made, Universal has announced that Apollo 13, directed by Ron Howard and starring an incredible cast including Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, and Kathleen Quinlan, will be returning to theaters from September 19th to September 25th — for the first time ever, in IMAX.
Per the official description from Universal:
Released on June 30, 1995, Apollo 13 recounts the real-life events of April 1970, when an oxygen tank explosion aboard NASA’s third planned mission to the Moon transformed the flight into a harrowing battle for survival. With their spacecraft losing power and life support, astronauts Jim Lovell (Academy Award® winner Tom Hanks), Jack Swigert (Golden Globe Award winner Kevin Bacon) and Fred Haise (SAG Award winner Bill Paxton) were forced to abort their lunar landing and chart a return to Earth without a functioning command module.
On the ground, flight director Gene Kranz (Oscar® nominee Ed Harris), astronaut Ken Mattingly (Oscar® nominee Gary Sinise) and engineers at Mission Control worked against the clock to bring them back safely, while Lovell’s wife Marilyn (Oscar® nominee Kathleen Quinlan) confronted the growing uncertainty from home. The failed mission became one of NASA’s greatest triumphs—an unprecedented display of ingenuity and one of the most extraordinary rescues in modern history.
Said Howard in a statement, “Apollo 13 is a testament to human resilience, ingenuity, and teamwork in the face of impossible odds. As we celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary, I’m reminded of how relevant those themes remain today. This re-release is not only a celebration of that incredible mission and the people behind it, but also a proud milestone for all of us at Imagine. It was a defining moment in our journey as storytellers and we’re thrilled that Universal and IMAX have made it possible to share it with a new generation.”
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In 2002, 13 minutes of Apollo 13 were digitally remastered for IMAX exhibition, the first live-action film to receive that treatment. This re-release, though, will be the first time the full movie has shown in IMAX to audiences. Given the scale of the space action on screen, it should be exciting to watch. For more, revisit our deep dive into why 2025 has been a turning point for movie re-releases and revivals — just like this one — and check out the new 30th anniversary trailer below.
Content shared from consequence.net.