UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Christopher Nolan has, by any account, had a banner year with 鈥淥ppenheimer.鈥� But 鈥淭enet鈥� was still on his mind.
The starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson was , when many theaters were open internationally but not yet in New York and Los Angeles. And all those IMAX 70mm and 70mm film prints, which proved so were just sitting around.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a film that was designed, almost more than any I鈥檝e made, to be enjoyed in this form,鈥� Nolan told The Associated Press. 鈥淲hen I heard they were going to be making film prints on 鈥楧une: Part Two,鈥� I jumped at that and thought what if we opened up the week before? We can dust off the projectors.鈥�
Nolan showed one to Warner Bros. film chiefs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca, and 鈥渢hey got it.鈥�
Beginning Feb. 23, 鈥淭enet鈥� , .
Longtime friends, Nolan and Denis Villeneuve spoke to the AP last week, outside of a sold out showing of the re-release, about 鈥淭enet,鈥� 鈥淒une: Part Two,鈥� and the sense that, a decade after Kodak almost stopped making film altogether, movie audiences are embracing and rallying around film too.
Below are excerpts from the conversation, which has been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: I spoke to people who held off on seeing 鈥淭enet鈥� entirely, holding on to the hope that it would get a proper re-release.
NOLAN: For me, living in Los Angeles, I never got to see it with an audience. It came to streaming first here, so this is a really fun opportunity to get it in front of people the way it was intended. The thing with 鈥淭enet鈥� is, I think of all the films I have made, it鈥檚 the one that鈥檚 very much about the experience of watching films. It鈥檚 about watching spy movies in a way. It tries to build on that experience and take it to this very magnified, slightly crazy place. A lot of that is about sound and music and this huge image.
More than any film I鈥檝e made, 鈥淭enet鈥� was designed to have this very theatrical, IMAX, larger than life identity.
AP: 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥� was shot on IMAX digital but will be shown in film. Can you explain how this works?
VILLENEUVE: It was not planned that I would get an IMAX film release. It was a bit like a gift from life, the movie being delayed because of the . Someone came with the idea to try it. They mentioned this once and then I was like a dog not letting it go. The idea to experiment, and, frankly, Chris will say 鈥渃heat鈥� because鈥�
NOLAN: I wasn鈥檛 going to say that!
VILLENEUVE: But still, I left film a long time ago. Or, I didn鈥檛 leave film, film left me and my heart was broken.
NOLAN: Film wants you back.
VILLENEUVE: I鈥檓 flirting with the idea, Chris Nolan.
I cannot give numbers, but I know that many of the pre-sales for 鈥淒une: Part Two鈥� are in 70mm. There鈥檚 the notion of an event and that is something people are starving for, they are craving it.
NOLAN: As filmmakers we鈥檙e competing with incredible home technology. We have to raise our game, but it鈥檚 great to see a new generation seeing what the difference is. There鈥檚 an emotional response to it that I think is very hard to quantify. It鈥檚 hard to justify to the studio sometimes. So it鈥檚 wonderful when they look at the numbers and they see that they sell more tickets that way, because audiences get something.
VILLENEUVE: The idea to put 鈥淒une鈥� on film didn鈥檛 come from me, to be honest. It came from Warners.
NOLAN: I鈥檓 admitting nothing, but we might have pointed out to them some of the numbers that we made.
VILLENEUVE: It always ends up being about the money.
NOLAN: I just like hearing the guy who made 鈥淒une Two鈥� be like 鈥渋t鈥檚 all about money.鈥� I鈥檝e seen that film. That鈥檚 not a cheap film, my friend.
VILLENEUVE: I have a question for you Chris. You must have strong shoulders because you were able to keep film alive by yourself. You鈥檙e pretty stubborn, my friend, but was there a moment where you felt a bit alone?
NOLAN: Emma was always on the exact same page. I think it would have been very hard if my producing partner hadn鈥檛 understood it the same way I understood it, emotionally. I鈥檝e never felt on my own because it was always at least the two of us together. (But) there was a strange feeling of, hang on, how can it come down to this? We鈥檝e achieved this incredible goal to be able to make films on a large scale, surely they won鈥檛 take the tools away at the last minute.
VILLENEUVE: I think that鈥檚 the way movies will survive. Large formats, like IMAX more precisely, is definitely the future of cinema because you cannot reproduce that at home. Not even in your home.
NOLAN: Well, mine鈥檚 pretty good (laughs).
VILLENEUVE: Yours is the BEST. But it鈥檚 not IMAX.
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
