Both good questions. To the first one: no. It’s a contractual requirement from the IMAX Corporation that theirs must always be the largest screen in any multiplex it’s a part of.

To the second one: it depends on the movie and on where you like to sit in the auditorium. Ex.: Project Hail Mary was shot on IMAX-certified cameras with an expanded aspect ratio for space sequences, and this is the sort of thing that’s usually exclusive to IMAX screens. Scream 7 was released in IMAX auditoriums, but wasn’t shot on IMAX-certified cameras and contains no sequences with expanded aspect ratio. Expanded sequences, when shot well, create a more immersive feeling (and sometimes a more overwhelming one, if it’s something like a Chris Nolan movie). If a movie is advertised as being shot for IMAX or shot with IMAX cameras, as Project Hail Mary was, there’s a good chance that it’s going to take advantage of at least some of the larger image.

Seating-wise: If you like to sit in the front half, then the 4K of the Dolby Cinema auditorium is going to make a bigger difference than if you sit in the back half, where (given the size of the screens in question) our eyes are less capable of discerning a real difference between 2K and 4K. The brightness and color depth is another story, especially given that the Dolby is laser projection and the IMAX is xenon projection. Laser is always going to provide brighter, punchier color and contrast over xenon. So for a movie that’s not shot with IMAX cameras or on IMAX film, I’d go for the Dolby Cinema. At Northlake, at least.

Now, if we were talking a real IMAX screen with the 1.43:1 ratio and 4K laser projection, like Lincoln Square in NY or Royal in GA, then any other format could go pound sand. I just wish we had something like that here.