Christopher Nolan has announced that the best way to watch Oppenheimer is at IMAX 70 mm film locations, and while that sounds like a grand time for audiences, the actual, physical film itself sounds like a nightmare to move, per a new report from the AP that mentions how the IMAX prints turned out to be 11 miles long, weighing 600 pounds. This is largely owed to Oppenheimer’s lengthy runtime, which clocks in at three hours and makes the atomic bomb movie Nolan’s longest feature yet. Variety confirmed with Universal Pictures today that the film is officially rated R, while IMAX has 20 locations listed for those who want to see it in 70 mm in the U.S. Oppenheimer is set for release on July 21.
From an AP report:
For Nolan, the “best possible experience” to view “Oppenheimer” in theaters is the IMAX 70mm film presentations. These are also among the rarest, currently set for 25 locations in North America including the AMC Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, the AMC Lincoln Square in New York, the Cinemark Dallas, the Regal King of Prussia near Philadelphia and the AutoNation IMAX in Fort Lauderdale.
The prints span over 11 miles of film stock, weigh some 600 pounds and run through film projectors horizontally.
There will also be over one hundred 70mm prints (“a fabulous presentation,” Nolan said) sent to theaters around the world, with over 77 (and more to come) on sale in North America at major chains and many independent locations like the Music Box in Chicago and the AFI Silver in Washington D.C.
“The two formats are sort of different and I love them both,” he said.
From an IMAX post:
Oppenheimer will be proudly presented at select IMAX 70mm film locations delivering a distinctive and unique way to experience the film, the way director Christopher Nolan intended.
Only in IMAX theatres will sequences shot with IMAX film cameras expand vertically to fill the entire screen.
In IMAX theatres featuring 15 perf / 70mm film, these scenes will expand images up to a 1.43:1 aspect ratio.