If you haven’t already bought a ticket for Black Panther, then you might want to consider heading straight to an IMAX screening of the film.The IMAX version will be different in one way that could change the entire experience.
During a Twitter Q&A on Monday, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Black Panther Director/Writer Ryan Coogler discussed the IMAX version of the film. Turns out, a significant amount of footage was shot in a different aspect ratio to utilize the full, larger IMAX screen.
In fact, Feige said “There are sequences in this movie that you will not see the full experience unless you see it in IMAX. The screen literally gets bigger for certain action sequences.” From the trailers, we know the film will include many incredible action sequences. We have seen a massive sequence where Black Panther is fighting while leaping from car to car and a fight set in a restaurant where Nakia and Okoye are attacked by several enemies. There is also the standout moment where Black Panther descends upon incoming trucks.
'Black Panther'
In order to create a version that would get people in the seats of an IMAX theater a significant amount of additional footage was shot. “For us to be able to make this film we got almost an hour of additional footage where we open up and use the full IMAX screen,” Coogler said during the Q&A.
This additional footage will also be used to further explore Wakanda. “It works for the story because we use it when we go into Wakanda and go into these spaces that are important to our characters. It really adds to it if you can see the film like that,” according to Coogler. The city has this futuristic look that is distinctive and visually compelling, so being able to see more of Wakanda is an advantage of IMAX.
Coogler himself is a big fan of IMAX. During the discussion, he told the audience that in his hometown in California he used to go see IMAX films with his friends and his wife, who was his girlfriend at the time. “For me, it was the best way to see a movie. To hear it, to see it. To sit right in it,” he explained.
Black Panther is out on February 16, 2018.
