Nolan: Shooting Sinners In Imax 'Wasn't Crazy'
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- Christopher Nolan told Ryan Coogler it 'wasn't crazy' to shoot his 2025 vampire film 'Sinners' in Imax, after Coogler called him while prepping the project seeking validation for the unconventional choice
- Nolan first introduced Coogler to original-made Imax film prints via a screening of 'Dunkirk,' saying he 'love[s] to show filmmakers the potential of the format'
- 'Sinners' earned cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, a milestone credited in part to the film's Imax-shot visuals
- Nolan's 'The Odyssey' (premiering July 17) is the first film ever shot entirely with Imax cameras, marking a first in the format's filmmaking history
- Nolan has used Imax across eight prior films including 'Oppenheimer' (2023), 'Tenet' (2020), 'Dunkirk' (2017), 'Interstellar' (2014), 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012), 'Inception' (2010), and 'The Dark Knight' (2008)
- 'The Odyssey' adapts Homer's epic with Matt Damon as Odysseus, alongside Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Lupita Nyong'o, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron, and Jon Bernthal
- Nolan called being part of Imax's filmmaking evolution 'one of the great satisfactions of my career,' adding he wants to 'go see somebody else's film when they do it this way'
Why it matters: Nolan's blessing to Coogler — paired with his own fully Imax-shot 'The Odyssey' — positions Imax cameras as moving beyond one director's experimental projects toward a viable creative standard. The 'Sinners' Best Cinematography Oscar and the first-ever fully Imax feature now give other filmmakers concrete precedents rather than just visual ambition to point to.
