There are few filmmakers around town who can pretty much get whatever they want, and until he stumbles (if that happens), Christopher Nolan is one of them. The man behind the blockbuster “The Dark Knight” trilogy and who turned an idea about dream thieves into a massive hit can basically have it his way. And so, when it comes to Paramount‘s recent shift to an all digital distribution strategy for their films (“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” was their last official film to be release on an actual print), it’s not a shock that Nolan will ensure that a celluloid version exists as well.
The LA Times reports that Paramount will release both digital and film versions of “Interstellar” when it hits cinemas last this year. And it’s not really a big shock. Of course, the filmmaker has long been an advocate of celluloid, and, naturally, his latest is being shot on 35mm with IMAX utilized for some sequences. So from a technical standpoint it makes sense, and, frankly, the cost of striking prints is worth it to keep someone like Nolan happy, and hopefully in your studio corner for years to come. But Paramount teases that other movies and directors might get a break as well.
“Although we anticipate the majority of the studio’s future releases to be executed in digital formats across the U.S., select exceptions will be made,” said vice chairman of Paramount Pictures, Rob Moore. And that’s nice and all, but we’re guessing those exceptions will be few and far between.
But, rest easy. If you absolutely demand that the special effects spectacle that is “Interstellar” be projected from a strip of film, you will have that option on November 7th.
It is really commendable of christopher nolan and colin trevorrow to shoot interstellar and jurassic world on celluloid.But now with the digitalisation of almost 90% of cinemas in the world i see no point in shooting on 35mm.I think the bane of every cinephile life is not digital cameras but digital cinema projection which is below par all over the world.Maybe these digital projectors are not meant for huge screens.
I think it's all pretty strange. If you're not going to see it on a real IMAX (not those retrofit ones, the big ass almost 4:3 ones) then it really won't make any difference. The normal prints will all have been scanned and printed back to film digitally. Only the big IMAX film prints will have been photochemically duplicated from the original prints. There's only a handful of those theaters around. All the other IMAX theaters are digital. The Grand Canyon IMAX film is done like that, it looks insane. Also those 70mm The Master prints.
As for scanning and printing back to film, what's the point? For me personally, that's just a step backwards in quality. Who wants a shaky image on the screen? That's just noatalgia.
:P.
I own 4 small town single and twin screen cinemas and we are almost done converting to digital. We kept the 35mm projectors in the booths were we could. I understand progress but, than you hear the film makers were trying to find a way to make digital look like film. What do they want? Film is film its classic and cannot not be faked. Good for Him!
When installing digital projectors in most Canadian cinemas they were "dual" projectors. This means they can switch between digital and yet still play 35mm with some rejigging. In larger urban areas they took into consideration that some speciality films or film festivals would still require the use of actual film
I feel like he should have on Beats by Dre headphones playing Aloe Blacc's "I'm The Man."
Damn! Too bad all of the theaters were forced to upgrade (downgrade?) to digital. Well, I guess it makes some priviliged purists like Nolan feel better about themselves.
Yea don't want to deflate his ego. Nolan's a flop away from going back his pre-Begins days where he was actually a good director and writer. Now he's just living off Hollywoods good graces.
Hopefully there will be a list somewhere that tells when you'll be seeing it in film (though since it's partially shot in IMAX I'll probably just go to NYC to see it).
Paramount Wasn't Gonna Risk Pissing Off Their Most Valuable Commodity.