Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar and Bay’s Transformers 4 Will Be Shot With IMAX Cameras

By Rudie Obias | Updated

This article is more than 2 years old

IMAX LogoChristopher Nolan and Michael Bay are some of the very few directors in Hollywood who can work at a large scale while also connecting with general audiences in a real way. Instead of immersing audiences with the 3D format, Christopher Nolan shoots a majority of his films with IMAX cameras. Conversely, Michael Bay uses both formats to create a lively spectacle. So it’s no surprise that Nolan’s new science fiction film, Interstellar, and Bay’s latest Transformers movie would be shot using the gigantic format.

During this year’s CinemaCon (formerly ShoWest) in Las Vegas, Nevada, Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Entertainment, announced that a significant portion of Interstellar will be shot using IMAX cameras. The question now is, how much is a significant portion?

The first time Christopher Nolan used IMAX cameras was on The Dark Knight in 2008. He shot 28 minutes of the movie’s 152-minute running time in the big format. On The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan shot 72 minutes of the film’s 165 minutes using IMAX cameras. Would it be possible for Christopher Nolan to shoot more than 90 minutes of Interstellar this way?

Greg Foster also announced that Michael Bay would use IMAX cameras to make Transformers 4, as part of a five-picture deal with Paramount Pictures. Bay used IMAX cameras for the first time with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, inspired by Christopher Nolan’s use of the format in The Dark Knight. Bay also used the format with 3D in Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011, so again, it’s not too surprising that Bay opted for the IMAX treatment for Transformers 4.

Transformers 4 will hit theaters everywhere on June 27, 2014, in 3D and IMAX, while Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is set to be released on November 7, 2014, in IMAX.

I know it doesn’t compare to watching it on a 76 x 97-foot screen, but you can watch the The Dark Knight‘s opening bank heist, shot completely using IMAX cameras, below: