Exclusive: 'Dunkirk' Prologue Is Playing With IMAX Showings Of 'Kong: Skull Island'

Last night brought the sneak preview screenings of Kong: Skull Island at many theaters across the country, and even though I had already seen the gnarly monster movie (and enjoyed it quite a bit), I wanted to see it again with friends. In addition to being treated to a second round of Jordan Vogt-Roberts' spectacular monster action on an IMAX screen, there was a little surprise preceding the movie.

As the lights came down and the trailers began, the first preview out of the gate was Dunkirk. However, I was taken aback, because this wasn't the trailer that has been playing in theaters since late last year. Instead, this was the 5-minute prologue that exclusively played before certain IMAX showings of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The good news is that this wasn't just a fluke and you can easily see the Dunkirk prologue with IMAX screenings of Kong if you weren't able to catch it already.

After seeing the Dunkirk prologue playing before Kong Skull Island last night, we reached out to IMAX to confirm that this wasn't a mistake. Plus, we wanted to find out if this was something that was being rolled out in a wider release this weekend around the country and not just a regional thing. And we got our answer.

A representative from IMAX has confirmed that the Dunkirk prologue will be playing in front of all IMAX locations playing Kong: Skull Island for the entirety of the film's run on the giant screen. So if you've already got your tickets for Kong: Skull Island in IMAX, then congratulations. If you don't, you really should, because it's the best format to see the movie.

If you'd like to know what the prologue entails, we offer some details after the image below.

The Dunkirk prologue is a five-minute sequence that cuts back and forth between a few different sequences. There are two soldiers carrying one of their wounded brothers-in-arms across a dock crowded with troops, towards a boat that's leaving imminently. We also see Mark Rylance making room on his civilian vessel so it can be used by the military, and an airplane dogfight with Tom Hardy and a British colleague trying to take down a German pilot. There's quite a lot of suspense and the score that creates even more tension, adding a real sense of urgency to the proceedings.

Having said that, it wasn't anything that made me giddy to see the movie. There's no doubt that I'm excited to see what Christopher Nolan can do with a war drama, but I'm not nearly as excited as I was for something like Inception. However, the footage looks superb on an IMAX screen, so seek it out if you can.

Dunkirk arrives in theaters on July 21, 2017.

Oh, and  if you really want to go for a fantastic Kong: Skull Island experience, the film is playing in 70mm in a handful of locations around the United States. Since the movie has a visual style straight out of the 1970s, inspired by Apocalypse Now, it's going to look fantastic on this format. So if you're in any of the cities below, go see Kong: Skull Island in 70mm.