Christopher Nolan reassured Ryan Coogler before he committed to shooting Sinners on IMAX.
Nolan has long been an advocate of the format.
Nolan's upcoming The Odyssey marks a breakthrough in the technology.
Ryan Coogler sought advice from The Odyssey filmmaker Christopher Nolan regarding the technical challenges of shooting Sinners on IMAX film. Warner Bros. produced the vampire period piece and Michael B. Jordan starred in it. Nolan told Coogler he "wasn't crazy" for wanting to use the format for his supernatural thriller. Coogler approached the veteran filmmaker to understand the practicalities of operating the massive film cameras. The resulting exchange shaped the technical strategy for the studio's latest large-format release.
Nolan's IMAX Endorsement
"He was incredibly encouraging," Coogler said about Nolan's reaction to his IMAX plans. The director specifically wanted to utilise 15/70mm IMAX cameras to capture the film's intense, atmospheric scale. Christopher Nolan has pioneered the use of IMAX cameras in Hollywood, most recently with his Oscar-winning film Oppenheimer. Shooting on large-format film presents distinct hurdles because the cameras are heavy and notoriously loud. Nolan offered practical advice on mitigating these operational issues while maintaining the visual scope required for the thriller. “Ryan called me before he committed to IMAX,” Nolan told The New York Times. “I think Dunkirk was the first time I dragged him to a screening of an original-made film print of Imax. I love to show filmmakers the potential of the format." He previously used IMAX in making Tenet (2020), Dunkirk (2017), Interstellar (2014), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Inception (2010) and The Dark Knight (2008).
Inside the Sinners Production
Sinners marks the fifth feature film collaboration between director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan. The duo previously partnered on the successful Creed and Black Panther films. Warner Bros. committed to a major theatrical push for the feature. The studio is heavily emphasising the film's premium large-format presentation to drive cinema attendance. The production filmed in New Orleans. The crew utilised specialised camera rigs to handle the bulky IMAX equipment during the film's action sequences.
During a special event last year, Nolan raved about Sinners while being in conversation with Coogler, “It’s a wonderful film in a lot of ways, but it deals in very stereotypical tropes of Voodoo about what constitutes the darkness of the human soul — how it’s expressed in anthropological terms,” Nolan said. “When I saw your film, the Irish River Dance, it was so chilling. It’s really the most spectacular musical inversion since Kubrick’s ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ [from ‘A Clockwork Orange.’] I mean, what did we [Irish] ever do to you?” Sinners won 4 Oscars out of a historic 16-nomination count.
