J.J. Abrams is not a fan of 3D. While this summer’s “Star Trek Into Darkness” arrived in both IMAX and 3D, the latter was a conversion job, and Abrams later admitted it was something he was forced to do for “economic reasons.” He’s long expressed his reservations about the 3D format, but it seems he’s taken a shine to IMAX, and we may have a reason to see the next entry of the “Star Wars” saga on the biggest screen possible.
The folks at AICN have scoped out a poorly transcribed but intriguing nugget from the Goldman Sachs 22nd Annual Communacopia Conference, with CEO Richard Gelford stating the following: “We are talking to J.J. Abrams test now about the next Star Wars being used with partly IMAX cameras.” Yeah, we know, it sounds like he’s talking in Google Translate, but it’s probably safe to assume Abrams is discussing shooting some of “Star Wars: Episode 7” in the large scale format.
This bit of intel fits logically with a couple of things, namely the announcement that “Star Wars: Episode 7” will shoot on film, rather than digitally, and Kathleen Kennedy promising a judicious use of CGI, instead of just slathering the sequel in computer effects. As Christopher Nolan showed with “The Dark Knight,” “Inception” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” practical effects—and even just establishing locations—can look fantastic on a massive IMAX screen, and the possibilities for what that could mean for “Star Wars” are intriguing.
Still no word on a release date for this one, but if you need less grounded “Star Wars” news, random rumors are flying around that Chewbecca might return. Guess we’ll see in 2015.