There are no Oscar frontrunners at the moment, but if you ask most prognosticators, Christopher Nolan‘s “Dunkirk” is already a shoo-in for Best Picture and Best Director nominations. After a terrific summer at the box office, and after being garlanded by glowing reviews from critics, Warner Bros. now has to get some awareness back onto the movie as we head into the cutthroat awards season. And they plan on doing that by offering voters a chance to see the movie in the most pristine presentation possible.
All through the run-up to the release of “Dunkirk,” the 70mm presentation of the movie was touted as the best way to experience Nolan’s WWII picture. (In my experience, at least, Hans Zimmer‘s nerve shaking score worked far better in IMAX digital). Well, since the director and studio can’t get all the Academy members out to a screening in his preferred, they’ll offer the next best thing: 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays of the movie.
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The studio has emailed Oscar voters, giving them the chance to sign up for the super high-definition version of “Dunkirk” with a deadline of October 31st. Of course, they won’t be able to get to experience the full totality of the format unless they own a 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR plus an Ultra HD Blu-ray player. And as per Academy rules, the disc will contain the movie only — no extras.
This isn’t the first time Warner Bros. have gone the extra mile to present one of Nolan’s films to voters, having printed up “The Dark Knight” on Blu-ray, which was still a pretty new format at the time. Nolan cares deeply about how his movies are watched, so it’s not a shock that for “Dunkirk,” which is one of his most visually narrative films ever, he wants to ensure that Oscar voters get a chance to see it as close as what he intended, without having to go to the cinema.
It’s an interesting Oscar race this year, and “Dunkirk” will definitely be part of that conversation. Think it has what it takes to go the distance? Let us know in the comments section. [Deadline]