The End of Celluloid As We Know It

[GaryC]

Paramount stops releasing major movies on film

Paramount is going back on their all-digital-distribution promise/threat for Christopher Nolan's Interstellar and leaves the door open for future "select exceptions."

Presumably select exceptions made for directors with sufficient clout, such as Nolan. Presumably that means the IMAX release of Interstellar will have 15/70 prints as well as digital. The BFI IMAX in London does still have a 15/70 projector though they have mentioned now and again replacing it with a state-of-the-art laser projection system.

Quentin Tarantino was able to insist on a 35mm-only release of Inglourious Basterds back in 2009 but that's no longer the case. Django Unchained was released on both 35mm and DCP, and I saw it in the latter format. My local cinema (which opened in October 2012) is digital-only.

I can see 35mm projection not going away entirely, but it will be a niche industry, especially places with an archival remit such as the BFI Southbank in London (which is the only venue licensed to project nitrate prints in the UK) and the Pictureville in Bradford (which can show 70mm and is one of the only three public venues in the world to be able to show three-strip Cinerama). I've mentioned the Prince Charles in London above and they do advertise when they are showing 35mm. Over the next few days, according to their website, they are showing 35mm prints of The Great Dictator , Howl's Moving Castle, Wings and All Quiet on the Western Front and one of their regulars (The Room) is shown off a 35mm print.

Last year was almost certainly the first year in which I didn't see a single new release projected from 35mm and I can remember only a handful from 2012. I did see 35mm showings, but they were of older films, at the BFI Southbank, the A nos amours showing of Fellini Satyricon at the Curzon Mayfair and Napoleon at the Royal Festival Hall (which I suspect drew on the facilities and expertise of the BFI Southbank, just round the corner). But apart from maybe some IMAX showings from 15/70 prints the last new film I saw projected from celluloid was The Master in 70mm at the Odeon West End in November 2012.

[MichaelB]

When I interviewed Aki Kaurismäki at about the time Le Havre came out, he told me how depressed he was about the fact that although he was still able to shoot it on 35mm, he was contractually required to deliver a digital master for the first time.

Although he could see the advantages of having a digital interpos in post-production, chiefly to do with being able to tweak the colours with the kind of precision that he'd never enjoyed before, he strongly disliked the overall digital "look", and I know what he meant - I've been lucky enough to see virtually all Kaurismäki's films in 35mm, and there's no getting around the fact that Le Havre looks distinctly different from the others.

[RossyG]

Yes. I'm afraid the digital versus celluloid battle was lost in the 1990's when digital intermediate became the norm. Even stuff shot on 35mm ran the risk of looking digital by the end of it; Jackson's King Kong, for example. It doesn't have the wonderful "filminess" of earlier blockbusters.

[GaryC]

So if 35mm production and exhibition is on the way out, it's not without a fight. I saw "shot in 35mm" during the end credits of The Deep Blue Sea and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and no doubt there are other examples too. Apparently Out of the Furnace has a credit that says it was shot "entirely and proudly" on 35mm.

Also, there are still examples of restorations and reissues coming out on 35mm prints. The 35mm print of Fellini Satyricon shown by A nos amours at the Curzon Mayfair in London was a restoration overseen by Giuseppe Rotunno. Scarecrow had a run at the BFI Southbank last year for its fortieth anniversary - I didn't catch it then but I did on Sunday as part of the same venue's Al Pacino season, and it was a new 35mm print, with a new rather than contemporary Warner Bros logo at the start.

[wattsup32]

So if 35mm production and exhibition is on the way out, it's not without a fight. I saw "shot in 35mm" during the end credits of The Deep Blue Sea and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and no doubt there are other examples too. Apparently Out of the Furnace has a credit that says it was shot "entirely and proudly" on 35mm.

Yes, in much the same way that cassette tapes aren't going down without a fight--at least with my 3 year-old.

[MichaelB]

I'm strangely delighted that my kids (b. 2003 and 2005) talk about "taping" things, even though I doubt they've ever encountered real tape-based media in their lives.

[cdnchris]

My 5yr old says "tape" as well. "Can you tape Doc McStuffins for me?" I think it's one of those things that might just stick around for a bit (she's actually come across a VHS tape though.)

[Dylan]

Jurassic World will be shot on both 35mm and 65mm

[Perkins Cobb]

I'm strangely delighted that my kids (b. 2003 and 2005) talk about "taping" things, even though I doubt they've ever encountered real tape-based media in their lives.

There's an irony: For years I'd get irritated when people would refer to TV shows that were shot on film as being "taped" like a sitcom - an industry term picked up and misused by laymen or ignoramus reporters. Now, of course, it'd probably be accurate, since only a handful of TV dramas still shoot on 35mm.

[Dylan]

With Help From Star Wars, Kodak CEO Says Its Film Business Will Return to Profitability

[flyonthewall2983]

But Rogue One will be shot digitally.

[Trees]

It's always good to have options, so keeping film alive is a worthwhile endeavor. At the same time, digital cameras keep getting better and better and better. The new Arri 65mm digital camera that "The Revenant" was shot on is said to have phenomenal image quality.

[Dylan]

Digital is amazing and has been for many years (Tetro, for me, is one of the most beautiful films of the last couple decades - or perhaps ever - and it was shot digitally in 2008) and digital will certainly keep getting better, but it's extremely comforting to know that real film isn't going away anytime soon. As an aspiring filmmaker myself, shooting on film is without question what I wish to do and it's great to know that it will remain an option for years to come.

[flyonthewall2983]

Are they doing any film screenings for Star Wars? I would think the kind of roadshow stuff Tarantino is doing wouldn't be looked down upon by Disney if Abrams asked for it.

[Jeff]

Are they doing any film screenings for Star Wars? I would think the kind of roadshow stuff Tarantino is doing wouldn't be looked down upon by Disney if Abrams asked for it.

There are a total of 15-20 screens worldwide showing it on 15/70 IMAX, everything else is digital. No 35mm.

[movielocke]

Is there a list of 15/70 theatres?

[jindianajonz]

Is there a list of 15/70 theatres?

Towards the bottom of this article, after the list of theaters showing in IMAX 3D

[movielocke]

Is there a list of 15/70 theatres?

Towards the bottom of this article, after the list of theaters showing in IMAX 3D

thanks, I thought city walk would be film, but it's laser 3d like Graumanns, and I doubt I have time to make the hour trip down to Branson over the holidays to see it on film. No imax prints in LA isn't shocking, but it's a bit disappointing, but not going to complain since I'm seeing it at city walk tomorrow and work is insisting we take a lunch Monday to check out the laser projection at Graumanns, hopefully the laser imax is on par with film imam quality.

[BigMack3000]

Citywalk used to be THE place to see Imax on film in LA, but I believe they removed it from the theatre for...reasons. I think, Interstellar was the last one to be shown there on film.

[beamish13]

Are they doing any film screenings for Star Wars? I would think the kind of roadshow stuff Tarantino is doing wouldn't be looked down upon by Disney if Abrams asked for it.

There are a total of 15-20 screens worldwide showing it on 15/70 IMAX, everything else is digital. No 35mm.

Wow. The Roadshow of HATEFUL EIGHT will be available in 35mm.

[flyonthewall2983]

[PfR73]

Are they doing any film screenings for Star Wars? I would think the kind of roadshow stuff Tarantino is doing wouldn't be looked down upon by Disney if Abrams asked for it.

There are a total of 15-20 screens worldwide showing it on 15/70 IMAX, everything else is digital. No 35mm.

Supposedly, at least one theatre, in LA, will be playing it in 35mm

[flyonthewall2983]

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 the first picture to be shot with the RED WEAPON 8K

[ellipsis7]

The Empire Fights Back - the return of Super 8 from Kodak...

[beamish13]

The Empire Fights Back - the return of Super 8 from Kodak...

This is tremendously exciting. I love the Digital Bolex, which duplicates the look of 16mm celluloid, but hopefully this news will galvanize more companies to make film accessible for independent filmmakers again.