Movies

'Star Wars Episode VII' Is Filming In IMAX

Star Wars Episode 7 script reading
By Germain Lussier

We thought it might be true, but Twitter and IMAX have now made it official. J.J. Abrams is shooting Star Wars Episode VII in IMAX. See the proof below.

Here's the tweet in question:

Not convinced? We emailed an IMAX rep, who said the following: "All we can say at this point is that we can confirm that JJ Abrams is using the IMAX camera for Star Wars: Episode VII." They also confirmed it is shooting film. So while Abrams made a big deal of shooting Episode VII in 35mm, he's going even bigger too: 70mm IMAX.

This isn't really a big surprise. A few months ago, IMAX announced that  Episode VII was being released in IMAX. But that didn't mean it was being shot in IMAX. These days, almost every big film gets an IMAX release, but only one or two a year are actually shot in the format. We can now confirm Episode VII will be shot and released in IMAX.

Again, Abrams shot his last movie, Star Trek into Darkness, partially in IMAX with about 50 minutes shifting aspect ratios to the larger format. He then converted it into 3D. Since IMAX wouldn't confirm more than the above, we can only assume the same will be happen here. Most of the film would have a classic 2:35 to 1 aspect ratio, and bigger scenes would expand to a full, square, IMAX screen. Potentially in 3D.

Could it possibly be the full movie? Who knows. All we do know is this. Come December 18, 2015 the best way to see Star Wars Episode VII will be in an IMAX theater.

For more on the IMAX camera in the photo, click here.

NOTE: An earlier version of the story included info from Pajiba about Abrams filming with 2 65mm IMAX cameras and then a post conversion into 3D. That may be the case, but IMAX told us that information was not correct and Pajiba has since removed the story.

Recommended