While the advent of digital cameras has certainly taken over Hollywood in a significant way, there are a number of films coming up in 2020 that were shot on good old fashioned film—including four that were shot using large-format film and IMAX. This via an excellent piece over atIndiewirethat shows a bright future for shooting on film, in the wake of the news thatKodak renewed its dealto create traditional film for Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros.
Indeed, said deal was initially driven by filmmakerChristopher Nolan, who banded together with a number of filmmakers to keep film alive by getting studios to agree to purchase a set amount of film from Kodak, which would subsequently keep Kodak from going out of business and thus removing the choice to shoot on film entirely. And many of those same filmmakers have brand new movies coming in 2020 that were shot on film, not digitally.
2019 was lacking in notable movies that were shot using large-format film (which is different from digital IMAX, in which films likeAvengers: Endgamewere shot), but 2020 will bring four such features. First and foremost there’s Nolan’s latest filmTenet, which was shot using large-format and IMAX film by cinematographerHoyte van Hoytema. The DP revolutionized shooting in IMAX onInterstellarby going handheld, which hadn’t been done before owing to the size and weight of the IMAX cameras, so it’ll be interesting to see what new tricks Nolan and Hoytema have up their sleeves onTenet.
Also shot on large-format film werePatty Jenkins’Wonder Woman 1984, which was spearheaded by DPMatthew Jensenusing mixed film formats, as well asKenneth Branagh’sMurder on the Orient ExpresssequelDeath on the Nile. And then of courseCary Joji Fukunaga’sNo Time to Diemarks the first Bond movie ever shot using IMAX cameras, with Oscar-winning DPLinus Sandgrenbehind the lens. The Bond film uses a mix of both 65mm film and IMAX.
Indiewire notes that the increase in demand for large-format film cameras for these 2020 releases caused a bit of a supply issue—TenetandNo Time to Diewere shooting at the same time, but not enough cameras were available. But the Logmar camera company introduced a lightweight, compact Magellan 65mm film camera to help fill the void, so this kind of issue shouldn’t happen again.
Beyond large-format, there are also a number of movies coming in 2020 that were just shot on good old-fashioned 35mm film. This includes new films fromSteven Spielberg,Edgar Wright, andWes Anderson, and even on the small screenWestworldcontinues to be shot on film as doesAdam McKay’sSuccessionand his upcoming HBO Lakers series.
Check out the (admittedly incomplete) list of 2020 movies shot on film below, via Indiewire, and get excited about seeing all that beautiful grain onscreen all year long:
A Quiet Place Part II
No Time to Die
Artemis Fowl
F9(digital/film hybrid)
Wonder Woman 1984
The King of Staten Island
The French Dispatch
Last Night in Soho
Death on the Nile
West Side Story
The Banker
Never Rarely Sometimes Always
The 40-Year-Old Version
On the Rocks
The Devil All the Time
