Spider-Man: Brand New Day grossed $360 million in the U.S. and Canada during its opening weekend, the largest domestic debut on record. Sony Pictures projected $355 million on Sunday, then revised the total upward when actual results arrived Monday.

It did so without playing on a single IMAX screen in North America.

IMAX is the premium large-format cinema system, built around much larger screens and its own projection and sound technology. Spider-Man films have earned $365 million in IMAX receipts to date, which is why the absence here is worth explaining.

Those screens were not empty. They were committed to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Within 48 hours of Spider-Man’s record, IMAX announced that it would begin dividing its digital network between the two films.

IMAX Was Already Full

IMAX had no spare capacity to offer. In July, The Odyssey helped deliver $257 million in global ticket sales, the highest-grossing month in the company’s history and 47% above its previous record. That left its North American screens committed when Spider-Man opened.

IMAX licenses its projection systems to theater operators rather than owning the theaters. Its network reached 1,809 locations worldwide at the end of June, only 59 more than a year earlier. A studio cannot add hundreds of IMAX screens for one weekend. Once another film has booked them, they are unavailable.

That is the important point. Sony was not shut out because demand was uncertain. The screens had already been sold.

Two films of this scale arrived 14 days apart. The audience could grow. The number of screens could not.

IMAX Had To Make Room

On August 6, IMAX will begin splitting its North American digital screens between Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey. All 41 IMAX 70mm theaters will remain with Nolan’s film.

The change came less than a week after Spider-Man’s record opening. The film could not secure IMAX screens for its debut, but its success persuaded the company to make room.

The opening showed both the size of the audience and the shortage of screens available to serve it. The record belongs to Spider-Man. The limit belongs to the screens.