Last updated on 23 September 2024.
The upcoming Joker sequel is expected to be a big R-rated hit just like Deadpool & Wolverine. And if you want to watch it in the best format possible, you have to consider IMAX.
Was Joker 2 shot in IMAX?
Warner Bros is pushing for a big IMAX release for ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ after the success of ‘Oppenheimer’ in 2023 and ‘Dune: Part Two’ in early 2024.
Joker 2 is officially Filmed for IMAX. The movie is shot with IMAX-certified Arri Alexa 65 and Mini LF cameras.
This means that if you are going to watch the Joker sequel in your nearby IMAX theatre (most of them have digital projectors), then it will have an expanded 1.90:1 aspect ratio for the whole movie.
Usually, most movies are shot in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, but IMAX screens are different. These screens have an aspect ratio of 1.90:1. If you have ever seen any film in IMAX, then you would have noticed that their screens are taller.
Most Marvel and DC flicks use these taller IMAX screens to show expanded IMAX footage (with extra height), exclusive to IMAX only.
So, if you watch Joker 2 in IMAX, it will have a 1.90:1 aspect ratio. But if you watch it in a normal theatre, it will have a 2.20:1 aspect ratio, where they will crop the footage from top and bottom.
The last Joker movie was also made with a 1.85:1 ratio, so they are continuing the same for this one.
Joker 1 was also shot with an Arri Alexa 65 camera, but at that time, those were not “IMAX-certified”. The company launched this “Filmed for IMAX” program in 2020 when they allowed some high-quality digital cameras (like Arri Alexa) to be called IMAX-certified cameras.
That’s why they are now officially promoting that Joker 2 is Filmed for IMAX, as you can check from this official poster:
Cinematographer Lawrence Sher is returning to work on the sequel too.
He combined the Arri Alexa cameras with MasterBuilt Ultra 65, Anastigmat and Nikon Nikkor Noct lenses to provide a dark but beautiful cinematography for Joker. Looks like he has upped his game for the second part as we can see from the trailers.
So, while the cinematographer shot it with digital cameras, that doesn’t mean you cannot get a better and bigger experience in IMAX 70mm.
Watch Joker Folie à Deux in IMAX 70mm here
Joker Folie à Deux will be released in IMAX 70mm in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. These 70mm IMAX shows of the film will have 54 minutes of footage in a 1.43:1 aspect ratio.
There are only 11 locations selected for these special screenings in the whole world. Here is the official list:
- Dallas, Texas: Cinemark 17 & IMAX
- Fort Lauderdale, Florida: AutoNation IMAX
- Indianapolis, Indiana: Museum of Discovery & Science
- New York, New York – AMC Lincoln Square 13
- Tempe, Arizona: Harkins Arizona Mills 25
- Irvine, California: Regal Irvine Spectrum 21
- Universal City, California: Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood & IMAX
- San Francisco, California: AMC Metreon 16
- Canada: Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan & IMAX, Woodbridge, Ontario
- UK: BFI IMAX, British Film Institute, London
- Australia: IMAX, Melbourne Museum, Melbourne
As you can see, about 8 of them are in the US only. There is just 1 in Canada, the UK and Australia. If you remember, Warner Bros did a 70mm release for Oppenheimer also.
However, in the case of Oppenheimer, 30+ theatres were given 70mm film reels. But I would also like to remind you that Oppenheimer actually has scenes that were shot with IMAX film cameras. But Joker 2 only used digital cameras.
So, the only difference you would find in these 11 theatres listed above is that they will have an aspect ratio of 1.43:1 for some major scenes. But they will not give the higher quality of a physical film reel as they did with Oppenheimer.
As we know, there are only 1-2 movies every year that uses the IMAX film cameras, that too for just 10-30 minutes. These film cameras are costly, heavy and noisy. That’s why only legends like Christopher Nolan use them.
So most of the time, these 70mm theatres don’t have much to offer. However, the studios sometimes use the trick to have select scenes made in a 1.43:1 ratio (even when they are shot in digital) to be exclusive for the IMAX 70mm show.
Dune 2 used this trick because while it was also completely shot with digital cameras, it left some scenes in a much taller ratio that you can only see on IMAX 70mm screens.
Let’s see how this decision works out for Joker 2.
Takeaways
Now you know everything about Joker 2’s IMAX aspect ratio and where you can watch it in 70mm. This movie looks perfect for the big-screen experience and Warner Bros is doing a big IMAX promotion like they did with Dune 2 this year.
And if you don’t know who I am? I am Ranish Chauhan a.k.a. Fulmino Fan, and I love Marvel & DC Superheroes and Sci-Fi movies. You can also check my YouTube channel for amazing videos in Hindi.