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Paris Olympics opening ceremony to air live in IMAX theaters

The Paris Olympics have turned the River Seine into an Opening Ceremony theatrical stage.

PARIS, France — One of the world's most spectacular events is being watched on the biggest theater screens possible.

The Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics is being broadcast live Friday on more than 150 IMAX screens across the United States.

The IMAX theaters will broadcast NBC's live coverage from Paris, begin Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. Mountain.

IMAX theaters screening the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony include AMC Highlands Ranch 254, AMC Westminster Promenade 24, Regal United Artists Colorado Center, and AMC Arapahoe Crossing 16 IMAX. Ticket are $21.

Friday's ceremony is the first-ever Summer Olympic opening ceremony not held in a stadium. Olympic 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.

Credit: AP
Spectators wait for the start of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024.

When is the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony?

NBC will begin live coverage of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony at 11:30 a.m. MT on Friday.

The opening ceremony will be broadcast on NBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com and the NBC/NBC Sports apps, or in IMAX theaters.

Mike Tirico, Kelly Clarkson and Peyton Manning will serve as hosts of NBC’s opening ceremony coverage. "Today" hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb will also be part of the broadcast team.

After the Olympic cauldron is lit during the Opening Ceremony, there will be 16 more days of competition featuring about 10,500 athletes from more than 200 nations.

Where will the Paris Olympics be held?

Eighty percent of competition venues are within 6.2 miles of the Olympic and Paralympic Village in Paris.

The Olympics will use historic locations throughout France for competition venues.

Some of the venues include Eiffel Tower Stadium for beach volleyball, the Palace of Versailles for equestrian, Roland-Garros stadium for tennis, and the Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées for taekwondo and fencing.

Paris previously hosted the Olympics in 1900 and 1924, and will join London (1908, 1948 and 2012) as the only cities to host the Olympic Games three times.

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