The theatrical experience feels as though it's on the cusp of rebirth. Total revenue for the UK cinema sector was up nearly 8.5% on last year, with admissions also rising 5% – while these figures may seem small, the numbers behind them are not. Summer 2023 was the year of Barbenheimer, which seemed to reignite that cinematic flame in UK audiences, who flocked to the cinemas to see these two projects which had elevated themselves from mere films to ‘Global Events'. And now, we have come to the first Global Event of 2024 – Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two.
A truth shared by both Villeneuve and fellow cinematic marvel Christopher Nolan is that IMAX releases are the future for cinema, and it's not hard to see why. The technology adds an additional layer of immersion, almost pulling you out of your seat and into your screen – it provides the uncanny feeling as though you are within the film itself, having to physically look around to take in all of the dunes of Arrakis or the backwards shenanigans of the Tenet boys.
Whereas many filmmakers take advantage of IMAX to encapsulate their action on the biggest screen possible, Villenueve has taken it to the next level, entwining his use of the technology itself into the narrative fabric of the film. In the original Dune, Villenueve played with two different aspect ratios to divide the two worlds this story takes place in – 2.35:1 for man-made infested with technology, and 1.43:1 for the organic, expansive worlds of nature and space. It reinforces that feeling of human struggle for power over the brutal dominance of these natural worlds they seek to conquer. It immerses us in the vastness of Arrakis' dunes and space's emptiness – gorgeous landscapes, but utterly deadly.
Dune: Part Two rockets the scale of Villenueve's world up tenfold, and to reflect that expansion, filmed entirely in IMAX 1.90:1 and 1.43:1 to maintain that rhythm from the original Dune of the two different worlds battling one another cinematically. I was lucky enough to attend one of the 12 theatres globally that showed Dune: Part Two in IMAX Laser 70mm film at the BFI IMAX in London, and you can practically feel the heat of the desert planet frying your eyeballs as you take every inch of every frame in. Even if you were to watch Dune at home before going to see Dune: Part Two, Villeneuve and Fraser's expert integration of IMAX into the world of Dune makes everything feel brand-new, fresh out of the box – everything we see in Dune feels like a glimpse compared to the visual feast that you gain from seeing Dune: Part Two in IMAX.
Cinematographer Greg Fraser spoke about how the philosophical questions posed by Dune: Part Two influenced the very construction of the cameras and the lens they would use to capture the never-ending desert. Fraser filmed using the Arri Alexa 65 and LF model, mentioning in an interview with ARRI Rental that they hoped to capture a spherical look using 1980s Moviecam lenses and combining them with Soviet-era glass, in order to create the muddied, heat-struck vision they had in mind.
When you hear the term ‘large format' movie, it's difficult to fully understand what that means – Dune: Part Two is what that term means. Villenueve and Fraser have put countless hours of consideration into answering the questions of ‘how can we go bigger? How can we go wider? What's going to make audiences forget they are in a cinema?' If you only see one film in IMAX this year, make it Dune: Part Two. You won't regret it.
Dune: Part Two is available to watch in IMAX in UK and Irish cinemas nationwide now.
