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IMAX's Premium Appeal: From Giant Screens to 70mm Film

Nolan’s 'Odyssey' sells out IMAX screens, spotlighting IMAX’s giant aspect ratios, laser projection and 70mm film.

AI News Feed · 2026-09-06 03:53

IMAX theaters use nonstandard aspect ratios: 1:90:1 for digital presentations and 1:43:1 for film. Those ratios make the image proportionally taller and more square than normal cinema screens, expanding past the viewer's peripheral vision. For a 70mm film, an IMAX theater is about 59 feet tall and 79 feet wide. The result is not just a larger version of the same image, but a different image, particularly when films are shot with IMAX cameras that capture more information.

The larger canvas does not come automatically. 'We have to plan very carefully because by shooting an IMAX film, you capture a lot of information,' Nolan told the Associated Press, as quoted by Engadget. 'Your movie is going to translate very well to all the formats because you're getting the ultimate amount of visual information.' He added that because theater screens have different shapes, directors must frame imagery so it performs in a variety of venues. That work continues for digital films, where filmmakers adapt lenses, lighting and sound to satisfy IMAX and non-IMAX releases. Films labeled 'Filmed for IMAX' involve direct collaboration with the exhibitor, supported by remastering software that cleans and enhances footage for large presentation.

Projection systems also differ. The common IMAX Digital setups, often retrofitted in Cinemark, AMC, Regal and Dolby locations, use dual xenon lamps and achieve 1:90:1 aspect ratios but lack the resolution gains of laser systems. IMAX's Laser GT projectors use two 4K lasers for floor-to-ceiling ratios, better clarity and richer colors. A single-laser IMAX system supports the 1:90:1 ratio but improves contrast and brightness compared with xenon. For those who consider film the most premium route, 70mm has a long cinematic history, including Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey.' IMAX's contribution to 70mm is horizontal running and a fifteen-perforation layout, which dramatically enlarges the area of each frame. The reels for 'The Odyssey' run more than ten miles long, weigh about 500 pounds and move through the projector at hundreds of miles per hour.