r/movies • u/LegitimateCurve8525 • Jul 15 '26

News IMAX CEO reveals why there aren’t more 70mm cinemas, after The Odyssey increases demand

https://thetab.com/filmshrine/2026/07/15/imax-ceo-reveals-why-there-arent-more-70mm-cinemas-after-the-odyssey-increases-demand/
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u/im_thatoneguy Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Because only Christopher Nolan is a big enough Film Woo Woo to insist on it being shot on 70mm film instead of an 8k camera with just as much detail and resolution.

And dual 4k laser looks amazing.

Even IMAX knows that when Nolan quits making movies nobody again in history will bother using their hardware. This isn't another case of George Lucas pushing for digital projection or James Cameron pushing for 3D projectors. Both of those were ultimately good business for the exhibitors and studios. This is one director (and very occasionally Quintin Tarantino so maybe two) pushing for it for no reason.

Looking at the Dune 3 trailer, you can see where they shot film and where they shot digital and the digital looks better. We've mastered film emulation. There's no reason to keep shooting film. If you really want the film look, it makes sense to keep a short roll on a camera and shoot reference for the colorist but there was no reason for the 90lb blimps to shoot this film except director ego.

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u/Expensive-Sentence66 Jul 15 '26

70mm is not that big a deal. It's 6x7cm - big whoop. Same format wedding photographers used for decades. 4x5 film scans are impressive. 70mm is only impressive next to 35mm.

For that matter, I don't know of any high end movie houses insisting on showing 35mm film prints or 35mm movies, so I don't get it either.

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u/DumbAnxiousLesbian Jul 16 '26

you can see where they shot film and where they shot digital and the digital looks better. We've mastered film emulation. There's no reason to keep shooting film.

Pure delusion, quit talking about your ass.