The 'Oppenheimer' movie's 600-pound film reel is so huge, it can barely fit into IMAX's film project
- Christopher Nolan asked IMAX if the film reels for "Oppenheimer" could fit in their projectors.
- The three-hour-long film has a reel that's 11 miles long and weighs 600 pounds, per AP.
- Nolan told Collider the reel could barely fit and was the "absolute limit" for an IMAX film print.
"Oppenheimer" is literally Christopher Nolan's biggest film. The director told Collider in an interview that the movie's film reel was so huge that it could barely fit into IMAX's film projectors.
With a three hour runtime, "Oppenheimer" — a biographical thriller starring Cillian Murphy — is the longest film that Nolan has ever made. Its reel contains 11 miles of film stock and weighs 600 pounds, a testament to just how big a movie it is — literally.
The sheer size of the film reel prompted Nolan to ask IMAX if it could even fit into their film projectors.
"I went to them, and I said, "Okay, I've got a 180-page script. That's a three-hour movie on the nose. Can it be done?" We looked at it, they looked at the platters, and they came to the conclusion that it could just be done," Nolan told Collider in an interview published on July 10.
"They're telling me this is the absolute limit because now the arm that holds the platter went right up against it. So, this, I think, is finally the outer limit of running time for an IMAX film print," Nolan added.
A representative from IMAX told Insider that Nolan is not the only director who's pushed the limits of reel sizes.
"James Cameron made the original Avatar length to the then capacity of the IMAX film platter @ 2hr 42 min," the representative told Insider in an email reply.
"We do all we can to help the filmmaker tell his story the best way possible," the representative added.
Nolan has been an avid user of the IMAX film format. The director started using IMAX cameras while shooting the 2008 Batman film "The Dark Knight." IMAX cameras were also used in his recent films, "Tenet" and "Dunkirk."
"Oppenheimer" is set to hit theaters on July 21, 2023.
Representatives for Nolan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Editor's note: July 21, 2023 — This story has been updated with responses from IMAX.
Watch:
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyktNGiqq2noJ2ys3nNqKOapl2kvbGxzaGcoqWVp3qntcumZKudlaF6o63RnqOyZZaewW61zJqvZp6ZobpuvNGooZ6bpKS%2FtHmRaWlsZWc%3D