In May 2025, Christopher Nolan revealed that his next epic, “The Odyssey,” would be the first feature film shot entirely with 70mm Imax cameras.

As “The Odyssey” grosses nearly $650 million worldwide, including $140 million in Imax, and with the company’s coveted 70mm screenings sold out for weeks, an Imax source suggests the success could spark enormous interest among other filmmakers who might want to shoot entirely with Imax film cameras.

But which directors besides Nolan have the skills and resources to accomplish such a feat? After all, filming with Imax cameras isn’t cheap. “The Odyssey” cost $250 million to produce, making it the most expensive film of Nolan’s career to date. The raw film stock alone costs about $1.50 per foot, and with production navigating through two million feet of film, that total alone equates to about $3 million.

Then there’s the reality that Imax film cameras are noisy and cumbersome. Not to mention the development and processing costs. A copy of “The Odyssey” costs $50,000, and the source adds that “it depends on the studio how many copies they really want to create.”

Denis Villeneuve seems a likely candidate after revealing that much (but not all!) of December’s “Dune: Part Three” was shot on 70mm Imax film. At the film’s preview event, the director said, “A lot of it was shot on Imax film, which was a first for me, but I kept the desert on digital because I like the brutality of digital Imax.” Filming with the “epic” Imax cameras was unique, he said. “When you see the result on the screen, it is incomparable,” he added. “I hope I get the chance to do it again.” Villeneuve’s next project is the new James Bond movie, which could be the perfect large-scale canvas.

Then there’s Ryan Coogler, whose next film is the Marvel superhero adventure “Black Panther 3.” Coogler, working with his longtime collaborator, cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, shot sequences from his previous blockbuster “Sinners” using a combination of 15-perf Imax film (for a sky-high 1.43:1 ratio) and Ultra Panavision 70 (for an ultra-wide 2.76:1 ratio). While it has yet to be confirmed whether Durald Arkapaw will film “Black Panther 3,” Marvel Studio revealed during its Comic Con panel that the film will be partially shot in large format on 70mm film, becoming the first Marvel film made that way.

“Ryan is an incredible partner. We were deeply involved in ‘Sinners’ and very supportive of that movie,” says the Imax source. “He shot sequences on film. We definitely hope he does it again.”

The source continues: “We can’t speak at all about whether they’re interested in the challenge of taking it on completely. But we have enough cameras and enough blimps that if those guys wanted to do it, we’d find a way to make it happen.”

With the success of “The Odyssey” and audiences seeking Imax screens for all types of blockbusters, there is no doubt that the format will continue to attract interest, whether shooting on film or digital. The new version of “The Thomas Crown Affair” by Michael B. Jordan was filmed for Imax, meaning it will be optimized in post-production, as will upcoming releases like “The End of Oak Street,” “Resident Evil,” and “Digger” (shot in VistaVision and shown in Imax). Meanwhile, this spring’s “Project Hail Mary” was filmed using Imax-certified digital cameras, and the company then created cinematic prints.

So, it is possible for Villeneuve or Coogler, or any ambitious filmmaker, to shoot their next film entirely with Imax film cameras. But few studios and directors could justify the enormous costs involved in using the company’s equipment.

“As long as we’re able to handle it from a scheduling perspective in terms of the cameras, and as long as we have enough time to work on each production to create prints of the film, we’ll be willing to do whatever people want to do,” the Imax source says. “If people want to create for our format, we do everything in our power to allow them to do that. We try to create a lot of different options so we can serve a variety of different filmmakers.”