{"id":1701,"date":"2025-07-27T09:27:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T09:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/?p=1701"},"modified":"2025-07-28T17:20:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T17:20:22","slug":"imax-makes-its-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/imax-makes-its-move\/","title":{"rendered":"Imax Makes Its Move"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Homer\u2019s Circe, Charybdis, and Sirens are imposing enough on page, but imagine them on a huge screen and shot in high-resolution: They become as tempting and frightening as they were to Odysseus. Plenty of moviegoers want to know what this will feel like; in mid-July, tickets to several 70 mm Imax screenings of Christopher Nolan\u2019s Greek epic \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d sold out<\/mark><\/a>\u2014an entire year ahead of the film\u2019s July 2026 release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The craze for this capture and projection format has recently reached a fever pitch, with immersive films like Ryan Coogler\u2019s vampire musical \u201cSinners\u201d and Nolan\u2019s historical drama \u201cOppenheimer\u201d having lengthy, packed theatrical runs in the few dozen theaters capable of showing them as intended (at press time, 30 such locations<\/mark><\/a> exist, 25 of them in North America). In an increasingly digital landscape, this fervor for celluloid feels like an anomaly. But the use of Imax film in Hollywood has been growing\u2014slowly but steadily\u2014since 2008, and its history goes back significantly further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several years, the Imax company has slapped its label on a number of new digital cameras<\/mark><\/a> and projectors<\/mark><\/a>. However, film has traditionally been a more tangible medium for Imax moviemakers. The process of shooting on Imax involves running 70 mm film horizontally through a camera in order to maximize capture space. In digital terms, it would probably be the equivalent of 18K<\/a>, so no actual digital camera comes close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first movie shot this way was the (now partially lost) 1970 experimental short \u201cTiger Child\u201d by Donald Brittain, back when the Imax Corporation was known as Multiscreen. The following year, the Canadian company installed its first permanent projector at the Cinesphere Theater in Toronto, a venue that remained active until its closure for renovation in 2022. From the \u201970s until the mid-2000s, Imax installed a number of setups as special attractions around the world, both in stand-alone cinemas and as part of science museums. Many larger-than-life documentaries started being produced, on subjects ranging from African Elephants<\/mark><\/a> to the Hubble Telescope<\/mark><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Christopher Nolan on the set of \u201cOppenheimer.\u201d Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon\/Universal Pictures<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2008 that Hollywood got in on the action, with Nolan\u2019s superhero blockbuster \u201cThe Dark Knight,\u201d 28 minutes of which were filmed in the 1.43:1 \u201cfull frame\u201d Imax aspect ratio. The difficulties of adapting Imax for studio features were immediately apparent: Only four Imax cameras existed at the time\u2014one of which was damaged beyond repair during the movie\u2019s truck-flipping stunt<\/mark><\/a>\u2014and their enormous size posed limitations for movement and transport. Plus, the cameras\u2019 jet engine\u2013like motors<\/mark><\/a> made recording clean dialogue practically impossible on set.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These limitations ensured that Imax film would remain a special attraction rather than a default setting. There was also the expectation that Imax\u2019s constantly shifting aspect ratios (between \u201ctaller\u201d and \u201cwider\u201d) would break the audience\u2019s immersion mid-scene. However, when used for specific sequences uninterrupted\u2014rather than between shots within a single scene\u2014the technology was much more effective. This was the case with 2011\u2019s \u201cMission: Impossible\u2014Ghost Protocol,\u201d the Tom Cruise action vehicle whose risky, practical Burj Khalifa stunt<\/mark><\/a> became the movie\u2019s marketing centerpiece (the sequence was filmed and presented entirely in 1.43:1 on Imax screens).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2010s saw a number of blockbusters continue using the Imax format: \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens,\u201d \u201cThe Hunger Games: Catching Fire,\u201d and \u201cBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.\u201d But the industry\u2019s shift toward digital capture and projection would prove a hurdle to its spread.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

James Cameron\u2019s record-breaking 2009 alien drama \u201cAvatar\u201d helped usher in a wave of digital 3D (both natively shot and post-converted), and led to the replacement of numerous film projectors with new digital technology. The success of digital alternatives resulted in either the shuttering or digital \u201cdowngrading\u201d of several Imax film locations, such as the Imax Dome in Mumbai. Meanwhile, newer locations opened with smaller, digital-only Imax screens, until the meaning of the word \u201cImax\u201d no longer referred primarily to celluloid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this wasn\u2019t the end of Imax\u2019s Hollywood story. Some feature films continued to shoot on 70 mm Imax, especially those made by Nolan (\u201cThe Dark Knight Rises,\u201d \u201cInterstellar,\u201d \u201cDunkirk,\u201d \u201cTenet\u201d). This has led to increased curiosity about the format, as each of the director\u2019s movies employed more and more Imax film as the technology progressed. That meant more portable cameras with less disruptive sound, and\u2014in the case of Nolan\u2019s 2023 surprise mega-hit and Oscar-winning \u201cOppenheimer\u201d\u2014new black-and-white film stocks<\/mark><\/a> and larger platters to hold more Imax film, as the three-hour biopic was being projected off a massive single reel.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
(L To R) Delroy Lindo, Michael B. Jordan And Director Ryan Coogler on the set of \u201cSinners\u201d Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cOppenheimer\u201d had two successful re-releases<\/mark><\/a> in Imax\u2014one in 2024 and the other earlier this year. In March, Kodak produced a video<\/mark><\/a> with \u201cSinners\u201d director Coogler, which not only explained the various projection formats on which the movie could be seen, but distilled and simplified a mountain of technical information for the average viewer. Despite only playing in 70 mm Imax at a handful of locations<\/a>, these screenings ran jam-packed\u2014as was the case with the movie\u2019s subsequent Imax re-release in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the wake of Nolan\u2019s and Coogler\u2019s success, the Imax Corporation plans to build<\/mark><\/a> new 70 mm locations while upgrading existing digital ones. Imax chief commercial officer Giovanni Dolci even claims that for the first time in his 12 years at the company, flagship digital theaters have been approaching him with such requests. The demand clearly exists, and it\u2019s being heard.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nolan\u2019s \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d will take advantage of newer, quieter film cameras and will be the first studio feature shot entirely in the format. As other large-capture, retro film formats make a comeback\u2014like VistaVision used for Brady Corbet\u2019s \u201cThe Brutalist\u201d and Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s upcoming \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d\u2014celluloid could be set for a defiant return in the digital era.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Once an anomaly in theaters, Imax is becoming more of a draw for moviemakers and fans alike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":1706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nImax Makes Its Move<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Big screens and high-resolution images are leading to even bigger results at the box office.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfreeway.com\/articles\/imax-makes-its-move\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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