If director Christopher Nolan was not clear about his preference for traditional film over digital capture in his movies, with his latest film "Dunkirk" he sure will be making a statement.
The latest offering from the acclaimed director is reported to be screened on 70mm projectors in selected locations. As of the time of writing, the number of theaters that will screen "Dunkirk" in this format is reported to be 125.
With this, the film takes the distinction of being the most widely-released 70mm-projection film in 25 years, a record previously held by Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" (projected on 100 theaters).
'Dunkirk' will be released in several formats
"Dunkirk" is a historical war film, a first for Nolan. It will tell the story of the miraculous evacuation of the Allied soldiers from the titular French commune. It is a story worth telling, and even Nolan himself was a bit more adventurous with the film formats he used in making the film.
Simply put, he used a combination of the traditional 65mm film and IMAX 65mm film in creating "Dunkirk." That does not sound too complicated in itself, but it means that "Dunkirk" will be released in a myriad of formats that would make any movie aficionado squeal in excitement - or scratch their heads in confusion.
Depends on who you ask, really.
But for those interested in the different formats the film will be on, an article from The Verge offered some help. We already know that the film will be projected from standard 70mm film in select locations, so that's one, for starters. This will give the film an ultra-wide 2.20:1 aspect ratio.
In addition to this, the film will also be shown in standard IMAX 70mm, which, apart from the higher resolution, will resolve the picture to a 1.43:1 aspect ratio. But that's old-school, and while old-school is great, some may prefer their movies on a newer medium. Enter the IMAX laser-projection system: with this one, you will experience that highest-quality digital presentation of the film.
The definitive version
Alright, so we got a lot of presentation formats. But which, if any, is the definitive one?
Folks from The Verge believe that the standard IMAX 70mm will be the best way to experience "Dunkirk," followed closely by the traditional 70mm projection. However, the issue here is that it may be hard for some people to find theaters that offer this kind of distribution. Fortunately, the ticketing site for the film conveniently lists theater where these "premium" distributions will be shown.
"Dunkirk" will be in theaters on July 20, and will star Fionn Whitehead, Tom Glynn-Carney, Jack Lowden, and Harry Styles.