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Christopher Nolan to direct WWII film "Dunkirk", shot in IMAX 65mm

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B

BlueTsunami

there is joy in sucking dick
As far as the worse IMAX experience I've ever had. It was Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol in 3D in the very first row right on the screen. I was also wearing 3D glasses over my normal glasses. The tension headache I had after was monstrous.

Jigolo said:
Scroll down and look for your closest theater here

https://www.imax.com/news/experience-dunkirk-imax-70mm-film-and-imax-laser

It shows which are showing 15/70mm IMAX film and which theaters are showing Laser
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Thanks for the link! And yep, The Reading IMAX near me is listed as Laser. I'll be hitting that one up
 
B

Blader

Member
BlueTsunami said:
Oops, yeah I should have specified. Yeah its a listing of every one but use the format indicator to clue you in as to what may be playing the film. What sucks is I have both the Boston Science Museum and Aquarium near me with 1570 capabilities but arent playing Dunkirk.
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Tell me about it. The biggest tease was when the Aquarium played the TDKR prologue teaser...but then not the actual movie!

_Nemo said:
Woww the IMAX theatre is a lot smaller than I thought. I'll definitely have to get there early. And being this small and the screen being huge I guess the back 2 rows would be best for sure.

This is the map for my theatre.

WYEBh9p.png
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Honestly, if you can't get into those back rows, I don't know if I'd recommend even going. I think the only IMAX 70mm film I've gotten to see was TDKR (at a Jordan's Furniture lol) and we got there late, were stuck in the 1st row, and just couldn't see shit. The screen is huge. I ended up just standing in the back for the Bane sewer fight and pretty much the last 30 minutes of the movie, and it looked incredible, but if your seats are anywhere in the front section it's gonna be a strain on your eyes and neck.

Dominator said:
Hm, I bought 70mm tickets for a theater in Paramus NJ, but no NJ theaters are showing on that list at all.
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I think the only tickets selling today are for non-IMAX 70mm showings, no? That list is just for IMAX 70mm and laser IMAX.
 
A

Ashhong

Member
lightskintwin said:
Valerian premieres the same opening weekend as Dunkirk, and Atomic Blonde and The Emoji Movie open the week after.
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That's not exactly a competitive lineup in my opinion. I would bet that Atomic Blonde is going to mostly bomb, same with Valerian. I think they picked a pretty good time frame for the summer. A little earlier and they have serious competition. I guess they could have gone later but then you're in August, which is slightly harder if you're not part of the MCU.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
Ashhong said:
That's not exactly a competitive lineup in my opinion. I would bet that Atomic Blonde is going to mostly bomb, same with Valerian. I think they picked a pretty good time frame for the summer. A little earlier and they have serious competition. I guess they could have gone later but then you're in August, which is slightly harder if you're not part of the MCU.
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LOL OK. Spider Man in it's 3rd week, War for the Planet of the Apes in it's 2nd week, and Valerian opening the same week is ABSOLUTELY going to be competition for Dunkirk. What demographic do you think overlaps with each other. Better yet what do you think the young demographic and women would rather watch in order of preference if given multiple options? Don't let Valerian be critically acclaimed and a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Atomic Blonde has that appeal to young demographic, women, and older male demographic. The Emoji Film is going to pull the family demographic.

IMO Dunkirk appeals to hardcore Nolan fans, War film fans, and skewed to an older male demographic that's primarily White. I think the other films appeal to a much wider audience tbh.
 
A

Appleman

Member
SF Metreon just doesn’t have any tickets for the weekend after this comes out? Was hoping to make sure I get a 70mm showing locked in on the 28th
 
M

MrPink93485

Member
lightskintwin said:
LOL OK. Spider Man in it's 3rd week, War for the Planet of the Apes in it's 2nd week, and Valerian opening the same week is ABSOLUTELY going to be competition for Dunkirk. What demographic do you think overlaps with each other. Better yet what do you think the young demographic and women would rather watch in order of preference if given multiple options? Don't let Valerian be critically acclaimed and a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Atomic Blonde has that appeal to young demographic, women, and older male demographic. The Emoji Film is going to pull the family demographic.

IMO Dunkirk appeals to hardcore Nolan fans, War film fans, and skewed to an older male demographic that's primarily White. I think the other films appeal to a much wider audience tbh.
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Valerian is tracking for a 20m opening while Dunkirk is looking at a 35m opening (So far, all this can change for better or even a bit worse). Atomic Blonde probably is looking at John Wick (the first) as a benchmark. So far, social media for that film has been pretty modest. The Emoji Film is appealing to families yes, but that's not what Dunkirk is really aiming for. The overlap there shouldn't be too much.

Apes and Spider-Man are issues, but since Dunkirk is coming after those, it's less problematic than films coming out after. Dunkirk acts more as competition to them by taking away screens, especially IMAX and PLF. And what certainly helps Dunkirk is that it gets IMAX to itself for over a month. Beyond that, Nolan's films tend to be extremely word of mouth based. Interstellar made nearly 4x its opening weekend number. All this stuff is competition yes, but Dunkirk really doesn't need to be concerned with the openers following the 21st. Apes is probably its biggest issue since its strongly acclaimed adult fare the week before.

For older audiences who don't care about superhero films, Dunkirk and Apes are probably breaths of fresh air. Dunkirk's success lies in Nolan's ability to deliver a quality film, more so than competition. All of this is to say that the competition its facing here is not any different than what any other film that gets released in the Summer has to deal with.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
MrPink93485 said:
Valerian is tracking for a 20m opening while Dunkirk is looking at a 35m opening (So far, all this can change for better or even a bit worse). Atomic Blonde probably is looking at John Wick (the first) as a benchmark. So far, social media for that film has been pretty modest. The Emoji Film is appealing to families yes, but that's not what Dunkirk is really aiming for. The overlap there shouldn't be too much.

Apes and Spider-Man are issues, but since Dunkirk is coming after those, it's less problematic than films coming out after. Dunkirk acts more as competition to them by taking away screens, especially IMAX and PLF. And what certainly helps Dunkirk is that it gets IMAX to itself for over a month. Beyond that, Nolan's films tend to be extremely word of mouth based. Interstellar made nearly 4x its opening weekend number. All this stuff is competition yes, but Dunkirk really doesn't need to be concerned with the openers following the 21st. Apes is probably its biggest issue since its strongly acclaimed adult fare the week before.

For older audiences who don't care about superhero films, Dunkirk and Apes are probably breaths of fresh air. Dunkirk's success lies in Nolan's ability to deliver a quality film, more so than competition. All of this is to say that the competition its facing here is not any different than what any other film that gets released in the Summer has to deal with.
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Without knowing the real production budget for Dunkirk but guessing it's within the ballpark of 100 to 200 million, if it had a 35 million opening domestically in July surely you could admit that would be a very disappointing opening.
 
M

MrPink93485

Member
lightskintwin said:
Without knowing the real production budget for Dunkirk but guessing it's within the ballpark of 100 to 200 million, if it opened at 35 million opening domestically in July surely you could admit that would be a very disappointing opening.
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Entirely depends on budget and legs (from the sound of it, lower than his previous works in terms of budget). It's also just tracking which could easily be way off as reviews and marketing in but it's about where I expected tracking to start. I don't expect more than about 130-140 million total domestically and even then a 35m opening wouldn't rule that out at all.

Personally I've been expecting around a 40m opening which Variety has quoted as a possibility. 35m would be a little low, but not really unsurprising to me.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
MrPink93485 said:
Entirely depends on budget and legs (from the sound of it, lower than his previous works in terms of budget). It's also just tracking which could easily be way off as reviews and marketing in but it's about where I expected tracking to start. I don't expect more than about 130-140 million total domestically and even then a 35m opening wouldn't rule that out at all.

Personally I've been expecting around a 40m opening which Variety has quoted as a possibility. 35m would be a little low, but not really unsurprising to me.
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I don't think it even makes 100 million domestically. I remember when the projections were as high as 60 million for the weekend, and I could see a mile away the type of film it was, it's story, the marketing, and the month it was launching full of competition that it was gonna be disappointment.

Mark my words, that's what the headlines are going to read after it's opening weekend, about it's lackluster performance at the box office, at least domestically. I have no idea how well it will perform internationally, but I suspect it should do well in European markets.
 
M

MrPink93485

Member
lightskintwin said:
I don't think it even makes 100 million domestically. I remember when the projections were as high as 60 million for the weekend, and I could see a mile away the type of film it was, it's story, the marketing, and the month it was launching full of competition that it was gonna be disappointment.

Mark my words, that's what the headlines are going to read after it's opening weekend, about it's lackluster performance at the box office, at least domestically. I have no idea how well it will perform internationally, but I suspect it should do well in European markets.
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I'm assuming you're referring to BoxOffice.com and their extremely high prediction. But they are just that, predictions. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you in the sense that it's not the type of film that's going to make huge huge numbers, but there are plenty of people who know box office well who are expecting an opening around 40m. Some people think a breakout can happen, but there are plenty of people who aren't expecting the moon here.

Opening at 35m would make 100m a fairly attainable target (assuming the film is of let's just say similar quality to Interstellar), especially with retaining IMAX for an expanded period of time. August is a dead period for films this year especially that will really allow for good legs. Which is why quality is more important to Dunkirk than any sort of competition. It will drive the opening and then legs. It will also play a major role in the headlines.

It should do well in a lot of Europe, and oddly, Korea. Interstellar is one of the highest admitted films of all time in South Korea, local and Hollywood (top 15), and Nolan has done big numbers every time there. 350-400m WW should be the overall target and would probably end up profitable.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
MrPink93485 said:
I'm assuming you're referring to BoxOffice.com and their extremely high prediction. But they are just that, predictions. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you in the sense that it's not the type of film that's going to make huge huge numbers, but there are plenty of people who know box office well who are expecting an opening around 40m. Some people think a breakout can happen, but there are plenty of people who aren't expecting the moon here.

Opening at 35m would make 100m a fairly attainable target (assuming the film is of let's just say similar quality to Interstellar), especially with retaining IMAX for an expanded period of time. August is a dead period for films this year especially that will really allow for good legs. Which is why quality is more important to Dunkirk that any sort of competition. It will drive the opening and then legs. It will also play a major role in the headlines
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The first week of August opens with The Dark Tower. Dunkirk is in trouble.

Interstellar was a EPIC SCIENCE FICTION SPACE film that starrted an ensemble cast of Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, etc... and it opened in NOVEMBER, not in a jam packed summer blockbuster month full of releases.

No idea why people keep comparing the film and it's release to other of Nolan's films without accounting for all the different variables.

I think Dunkirk will probably be an awards contender and it should've launched in November among all the buzz. I think it's prospects of having long legs would've been greater in the fall.
 
M

MrPink93485

Member
lightskintwin said:
The first week of August opens with The Dark Tower. Dunkirk is in trouble.

Interstellar was a EPIC SCIENCE FICTION SPACE film that starrted an ensemble cast of Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, etc... and it opened in NOVEMBER, not in a jam packed summer blockbuster month full of releases.

No idea why people keep comparing the film and it's release to other of Nolan's films without accounting for all the different variables.

I think this film will probably be an awards contender and it should've launched in November as well. I think it's prospects of having long legs would've been greater in the fall.
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The Dark Tower is a bomb waiting to happen. The film is supposedly 80-85 minutes long, has gone through numerous reshoots and has been delayed a few times. The buzz for that has been extremely weak thus far

Interstellar opened in a competitive month with Big Hero 6 on the same day (it outgrossed Interstellar OW) and later the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 a couple weeks later (a 300 mil grosser). Dumb and Dumber To didn't exactly do chump change either. Then there's films like Penguins of Madagascar and Horrible Bosses 2 that chipped away at theaters. November is generally a very busy month. It was a science fiction film yes, but honestly, it may have less action than Dunkirk ultimately does in the end. The point is, how well Interstellar did was far more defined by how well it connected with audiences over time rather than opening weekend, which again, it lost to Big Hero 6.

If Dunkirk opened in November, there's Thor Ragnarok, Justice League, Murder on the Orient Express, Coco (Pixar), and a slew of other films like Daddy's Home 2, A Bad Moms Christmas, in addition to Oscar fare. That would mean it has no chance of keeping IMAX screens more than a couple weeks without sharing. How is that any better other than it's seasonally what's expected for war films?
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
MrPink93485 said:
The Dark Tower is a bomb waiting to happen. The film is supposedly 80-85 minutes long, has gone through numerous reshoots and has been delayed a few times. The buzz for that has been extremely weak thus far

Interstellar opened in a competitive month with Big Hero 6 on the same day (it outgrossed Interstellar OW) and later the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 a couple weeks later (a 300 mil grosser).

If it opened in November, there's Thor Ragnarok, Justice League, Murder on the Orient Express, Coco (Pixar), and a slew of other films in addition to Oscar fare. That would mean it has no chance of keeping IMAX screens more than a couple weeks without sharing. How is that any better other than it's seasonally what's expected for war films?
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You keep pointing to other films that are gonna bomb, but have you considered for a moment that it could be Dunkirk that bombs? LOL Nolan was paid 20 million along with 20 percent of the gross. I'm pretty certain the budget of the film is closer to the 200 million mark than it is the 100 million mark.

People who don't normally watch "Oscar fare" are more programmed to watch these films in the Fall. Awards season buzz would've been much more hyped for the release.

Lima said:
As soon as you said Dark Tower and trouble I knew this was a joke post. Lmao
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You don't get it, it's more big budget blockbuster films in the theater that will take away from it's potential audience.
 
L

Lima

Member
Who says it's Oscar fare? Inception and Interstellar certainly haven't been. Have you seen it already?

I do get it because Dark Tower will take shit from Dunkirk as far as audiences go. That movie will be lucky to hit 10 mil opening weekend.
 
M

MrPink93485

Member
lightskintwin said:
You keep pointing to other films that are gonna bomb, but have you considered for a moment that it could be Dunkirk that bombs? LOL Nolan was paid 20 million along with 20 percent of the profits. I'm pretty certain the budget of the film is closer to the 200 million mark than it is the 100 million mark.

People who don't normally watch "Oscar fare" are more programmed to watch these films in the Fall. Awards season buzz would've been much more hyped for the release.
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Nolan got the same 20 million fee for Interstellar. We also know Emma Thomas said the budget is smaller than their previous films and by a significant amount. I think 165 million (Interstellar's budget) is the ceiling on budget, and more likely it's 150 million or less. The profit percentage isn't part of the budget and doesn't get activated as is until of course, it makes a profit.

I don't think Dunkirk is going to bomb unless it's a bad film. Everything I've stated is based on the assumption it's of fine quality. If it is, I don't expect it to bomb. If it's not up to his usual standards, then sure, it could definitely bomb. But if it's good, it'll probably be a mild underperformer at worst.

Watching Oscar Fare in the fall is nice and all, but as I just said, November is stacked. Dunkirk needs theaters to play in. Where do you fit it? No summer legs, two films set to do 250 million plus, a lot of other mid range releases, and a lot of other Oscar films vying for attention. What if Dunkirk has less Oscar aspirations than some other films in November? Thor gets IMAX. Justice League gets IMAX. Star Wars will get it following. Where do you fit the rollout for Dunkirk, especially with 70mm theaters that theaters are probably grumbling about? It's just as busy as July and there's a strong case it's even more busy than July.

Audiences programmed to watch Oscar Fare in the Fall is the same kind of shit that plagues game publishers and how they release games. And yet we've seen titles like Horizon succeed outside of the holidays. Do these audience members just only want to watch movies in the Fall? What do they want to do in the other 9 months of the year if they like movies?
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
MrPink93485 said:
Nolan got the same 20 million fee for Interstellar. We also know Emma Thomas said the budget is smaller than their previous films and by a significant amount. I think 165 million (Interstellar's budget) is the ceiling on budget, and more likely it's 150 million or less. The profit percentage isn't part of the budget and doesn't get activated as is until of course, it makes a profit.

I don't think Dunkirk is going to bomb unless it's a bad film. Everything I've stated is based on the assumption it's of fine quality. If it is, I don't expect it to bomb. If it's not up to his usual standards, then sure, it could definitely bomb. But if it's good, it'll probably be a mild underperformer at worse.

Watching Oscar Fare in the fall is nice and all, but as I just said, November is stacked. Dunkirk needs theaters to play in. Where do you fit it? No summer legs, two films set to do 250 million plus, a lot of other mid range releases, and a lot of other Oscar films vying for attention. What if Dunkirk has less Oscar aspirations than some other films in November? Thor gets IMAX. Justice League gets IMAX. Star Wars will get it following. Where do you fit the rollout for Dunkirk, especially with 70mm theaters that theaters are probably grumbling about?
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Ok, the bolded is a good point due to the ramping up of all the big blockbusters in the fall. I don't know. Perhaps they should've did a limited release for awards qualifications this year and launched it at the beginning of the year in January or February.

I'm pretty confident Dunkirk isn't a bad film. In fact, I'm confident it'll have good, if not great reviews. I don't think it's going to bomb either, only that it's going to have a very disappointing performance relative to the production and print and advertising budget and it's overall expectation.

I just don't think Dunkirk is a very appealing bid budget blockbuster film to a mass American audience regardless if it's great and it's made by Nolan. So maybe there was a never good time for it open here.

Lima said:
Who says it's Oscar fare? Inception and Interstellar certainly haven't been. Have you seen it already?

I do get it because Dark Tower will take shit from Dunkirk as far as audiences go. That movie will be lucky to hit 10 mil opening weekend.
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Avatar bet, The Dark Tower makes more than 10 mil opening weekend? :p
 
M

MrPink93485

Member
lightskintwin said:
Ok, the bolded is a good point due to the ramping up of all the big blockbusters in the fall. I don't know. Perhaps they should've did a limited release for awards qualifications this year and launched it at the beginning of the year in January or February.

I'm pretty confident Dunkirk isn't a bad film. In fact, I'm confident it'll have good, if not great reviews. I don't think it's going to bomb either, only that it's going to have a very disappointing performance relative to the production and print and advertising budget and it's overall expectation.

I just don't think Dunkirk is a very appealing bid budget blockbuster film to a mass American audience regardless if it's great and it's made by Nolan. So maybe there was a never good time for it open here.
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We'll find out, and hopefully it does well. It's obviously not the most audience friendly project he's done and without Nolan it probably would be a guaranteed bomb.

I think WB is probably smart enough to realize that it's not likely to perform like his other films. But they want to keep him in-house, give him the money to do his passion project, and take a roll of the dice on the off chance it does break out because Nolan's name turns out to actually be a big draw/it has the spectacle necessary to get people talking enough to get people to see it in theaters. A run like Mad Max Fury Road I think is probably something WB is hoping for.
 
L

lightskintwin

Banned
MrPink93485 said:
We'll find out, and hopefully it does well. It's obviously not the most audience friendly project he's done and without Nolan it probably would be a guaranteed bomb.

I think WB is probably smart enough to realize that it's not likely to perform like his other films. But they want to keep him in-house, give him the money to do his passion project, and take a roll of the dice on the off chance it does break out because Nolan's name turns out to actually be a big draw and it has the spectacle necessary to get people talking enough to get people to see it in theaters. A run like Mad Max Fury Road I think is probably something WB is hoping for.
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Reasonable response that I agree with. At worst, the movie tanks but Nolan is gracious Warner Brothers let him do his passion project, and next movie WB steers him to a do a more appealing high concept blockbuster with big stars that's guaranteed to bring box office returns.

Also the difference between Dunkirk and Mad Max Fury Road is Mad Max Fury Road had Charlize Theron and other women. Dunkirk is a complete sausage fest.
 
J

jstevenson

Sailor Stevenson
frontovik said:
I've always regarded IMAX as an expensive gimmick .. and never bothered with it.

I might make an exception for Dunkirk.
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the true IMAX screens were never a gimmick. The movies that did scenes in them (Batman, Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission:Impossible) always had these incredible moments that you couldn't do at home.

the liemaxes... well yeah....
 
T

The Driver

Member
Got my tickets for the 20th. The impressions have me hyped after being really down on the material shown so far.

It's pretty impressive that Nolan has not only churned out a movie every 2-3 years but the fact that his worst movie is merely "good" (TDKR imo).
 
M

MrPink93485

Member
Back to topic at hand, I live in DC so no IMAX 70mm showings here which is a bummer so I'll see it in Laser. I happen to be in Philaelphia that weekend (Zimmer is performing there!) and will go see it at King of Prussia if they ever put their tickets up on sale...
 
J

jett

D-Member
Kastrioti said:
I can't believe people actually doubted Nolan or had reservations on this film. Can't wait.
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Why wouldn't we? He has made two disappointing movies in a row, and this movie looks like it's all action when that's Nolan at his weakest.

lightskintwin said:
I think Dunkirk will probably be an awards contender and it should've launched in November among all the buzz. I think it's prospects of having long legs would've been greater in the fall.
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Awards hopefuls usually don't have 150M~ budgets.
 
S

Skiptastic

Member
I'm spoiled because I have a 70mm true IMAX in downtown Indy to go to, but I spring for the LieMAX when something isn't 70mm closer to home because it still has a bigger screen and better sound than a regular film. If I'm not watching at home, I want to go big.
 
A

Ashhong

Member
Don't even know where to start with the box office conversation with lightskintwin so I'll just abstain. Most of the talking points seem to have been brought up anyway

Skiptastic said:
I'm spoiled because I have a 70mm true IMAX in downtown Indy to go to, but I spring for the LieMAX when something isn't 70mm closer to home because it still has a bigger screen and better sound than a regular film. If I'm not watching at home, I want to go big.
Click to expand...

Do you have a Dolby Atmos theater or rpx near you? I prefer those over LieMax
 
S

Skiptastic

Member
Ashhong said:
Don't even know where to start with the box office conversation with lightskintwin so I'll just abstain. Most of the talking points seem to have been brought up anyway



Do you have a Dolby Atmos theater or rpx near you? I prefer those over LieMax
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Hmmm not sure. I'll have to check.
 
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