Post by blockbusted on Jun 2, 2017 21:21:24 GMT
That's just my incredible wild guess here. Yes, I know that Christopher Nolan is an IMAX darling and this will be shot in 65mm/IMAX combination, something that is not going to happen at least until 'Star Wars: Episode 9' comes out. However, I wouldn't be surprised if 'Dunkirk' doesn't take IMAX release for 6 weeks like how 'Interstellar' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' did.
I have some reasons for this:
1. Its genre and/or subject is not exactly appealing. 'Interstellar' was able to get an IMAX release for 6 weeks to a point where 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1' didn't get an IMAX release whatsoever even though both are sci-fi films. However, there are few things to consider here. 'Interstellar' is not just any sci-fi film - it's one that is set in space. To add to this, it also strived (is that a right word?) to explore some of the astronomical theories that are around today. If you ask me, I would say that's a very appealing subject for IMAX. 'Mockingjay - Part 1', on the other hand, is mostly a political drama and is actually set mostly underground, something that is not the case with other films in the series. Some of you might also ask about 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' not getting an IMAX release at the time even though Ridley Scott directed that one. Well, the answer is simple - Fox was simply too lazy with IMAX at the time. In other words, 'Interstellar' was basically clear from getting a straight 6-weeks IMAX release.
Same goes with 'The Dark Knight Rises', albeit differently. While this film is not set in space, it features one of the most iconic superheroes as its main character - Batman. That's certainly an aspect that would appeal to IMAX a lot. Furthermore, this wasn't an any Batman film - it was the conclusion of 'The Dark Knight' trilogy, so the hype was obviously a lot larger, especially thanks to the success of 'The Dark Knight'. To add something more to this, this was the first time when almost the half of a feature film was shot in IMAX, and that would certainly convince IMAX to keep 'The Dark Knight Rises' for 6 weeks. Furthermore, the only film that was worthy of an IMAX release that got released during that time period was 'Total Recall', but given the film's disappointing reception and IMAX release sharing not exactly being heard of at the time, 'The Dark Knight Rises' was basically free to reign in IMAX for 6 weeks.
'Dunkirk', though? Yeah, as much as I don't like to say, this is a World War II film. It doesn't exactly have an appealing subject for IMAX or has an iconic character whom everyone knows about. All it has is that it's being directed by Christopher Nolan and that it's the first 65mm/IMAX combination. Other than those, I wouldn't imagine that people would be rushing into seeing a film that is set during World War II. And correct me if I'm wrong, but the film also looks like it's going to focus more on evacuation than war sequences, so I would not assume that the film is going to appeal to mass audience like 'The Dark Knight Rises' or 'Interstellar'.
2. There are other potential IMAX release candidates. At least part of the reason why I'm writing this is because of an upcoming French science fiction film directed by Luc Besson - 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets'. I actually had this conversation with a Reddit poster named Jimbert0:
https://www.reddit.com/r/scifi/comments/5etrw2/trailer_for_valerian_and_the_city_of_a_thousand/
...and sure enough:
www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/luc-besson-s-sci-fi-epic-valerian-gets-release-date-796578
...this article has indeed stated that 'Valerian' got an IMAX release planned back in 2015 along with this Twitter page that is appeared to be owned by Besson himself:
If all of these information are true, it might be possible that 'Dunkirk' might share an IMAX release with 'Valerian' like how 'Jupiter Ascending' and 'Seventh Son' did. If not, I'm still not going to rule out the possibility of 'Valerian' getting a late IMAX release on August 18 like how 'Mad Max: Fury Road', 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles', 'The Martian', or 'Jason Bourne' did.
Another thing to consider is that, even if 'Valerian' isn't getting an IMAX release, there's one major IMAX release contender coming out on August 25 - 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'. Now, this is just a re-release and probably only going to have 1 week of IMAX release since 'Inhumans' is getting an IMAX premiere on September 1, but I'm still not setting this film's IMAX possibility aside. After all, we're talking about one of the greatest sci-fi film directed by none other than JAMES CAMERON. I would not expect IMAX to ignore such a film like that entirely even if it's rated R. Also, there's a slight possibility that 'Your Name' might get an IMAX release around the same time, which could drive 'Dunkirk' out from IMAX.
Any additional thoughts on this?
