The NBC television network will extend its live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony to IMAX locations nationwide on Friday, July 26 — the first time ever the global event will be presented live in IMAX, it was announced this week.

The plans for the Opening Ceremony are unlike any other. The first-ever Summer Olympic opening ceremony not held in a stadium, the organizers are turning one of the world’s most famous waterways, the River Seine, into the world’s biggest theatrical stage. 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.

IMAX will present NBC’s live coverage of this summer’s Opening Ceremony to more than 150 IMAX locations throughout the United States, providing fans with a unique and immersive theatre experience to enjoy what promises to be one of the most spectacular Opening Ceremonies in Olympic history.

Last week, it was announced that Emmy Award-winning talk show host and Grammy Award-winning artist Kelly Clarkson and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback and two-time Super Bowl champion Peyton Manning will join two-time Sports Emmy Award-winner and NBC Olympics primetime host Mike Tirico to host NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony.

“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 theatres nationwide. Tickets will be available for purchase at local IMAX locations and on Fandango this summer. In Paris this summer, the world’s greatest athletes will compete against the backdrop of one of the most beautiful cities in the world where the modern Olympic Games were conceived 130 years ago. 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 when it hosts the first Summer Games in the U.S. in 32 years in 2028.

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.