LOS ANGELES — If you ask a cinephile, there's nothing better than Imax 70mm film. So Ryan Coogler's latest movie, "Sinners," which was partially shot on Imax film cameras and is being shown in Imax 70mm, has been all the buzz since its Easter weekend debut, when it grossed $63.5 million worldwide, exceeding expectations.

"Sinners" features a refreshingly original plot that is part Jim Crow period piece about two brothers who open a juke joint, part vampire thriller. Starring frequent Coogler collaborator Michael B. Jordan and newcomer Miles Caton, the film received an A CinemaScore — the first ever for a horror movie — and 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.

For many moviegoers, the fervor about the genre-bending film is matched by excitement for Coogler's technical accomplishments, which follows in the footsteps of Christopher Nolan's best picture winner, "Oppenheimer." (While Todd Phillips' "Joker: Folie à Deux" and Denis Villeneuve's "Dune: Part Two" were also recently shown in Imax 70mm, they were shot for Imax digitally.) Ahead of "Sinners'" release, Coogler encouraged audiences to see the film in its intended format, on Imax 70mm screens in 1.43:1 aspect ratio.

But the mandate is harder to meet than it may seem as "Sinners" is screening in Imax 70mm in only eight theaters in the United States and 10 theaters globally: Harkins Arizona Mills 18 & IMAX in Tempe, Arizona; Regal Irvine Spectrum & IMAX in Irvine; Universal Cinema AMC at CityWalk Hollywood & IMAX in Los Angeles; AMC Metreon 16 & IMAX in San Francisco; AutoNation IMAX Theater in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; IMAX Theatre in the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis; AMC Lincoln Square 13 & IMAX in New York City; Cinemark Dallas & IMAX in Dallas; Cineplex Cinemas Vaughan & IMAX in Ontario, Canada; and British Film Institute IMAX in London.

The per-screen average for the Imax 70mm locations (excluding London) was about $91,000 over the weekend, according to Jason Allen, head of publicity at Imax.

As for what makes Imax 70mm so special, the film camera is generally considered the highest resolution motion picture camera ever developed. The captured Imax negative has a resolution of 12x18K, according to Imax chief quality officer David Keighley. In comparison, the highest resolution of the average television or movie screen is 4K.

The visual is "absolutely sharp from edge to edge on a 90-foot screen," said Bill Counter, a theater historian and retired projectionist. "An extraordinary amount of detail is captured." Simply put, "it's bigger, it's sharper, it's better."

Adding to the hype, while not the first movie to utilize mixed aspect ratios, "Sinners" is the first film to be shot on both Imax (1.43:1) film and Ultra Panavision 70 (2.76:1). Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw is the first female director of photography to shoot in Imax film. Ultra Panavision 70 had a resurgence with the release of Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight" in 2015. Prior to that, the format hadn't been used for almost 50 years.

"Sinners" puts Coogler in the same company as renowned filmmakers Nolan, Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, who have the clout and expertise to shoot on film, said Keighley.

"We're excited because he's a young filmmaker and he has done an incredible job with this," Keighley said. "He's not just a director that is enamored by the story, he's a person who is enamored by the technology and believes both of those things together drive people to the theaters."

Keighley said "Sinners" is one of the most positively received films he's worked on. And in Dallas, Cinemark added 10 a.m. showings to the movie's two-week Imax run to meet audience demand, said retired Imax technician and projectionist Patrick Caldwell.

"Sinners'" relatively limited 70mm release — "Oppenheimer" was presented in Imax 70mm in 30 theaters worldwide — came down to a business decision, said Keighley.

Caldwell put it more bluntly: "'Oppenheimer' got them going but let's face it, Ryan Coogler is not Christopher Nolan. Mr. Coogler doesn't have the name recognition to demand 30 theaters with each print costing upwards of $50,000, not to mention the cost of the equipment. Just the light bulb of the projector is $4,000."

On the flip side, the limited opportunities to see the film in its intended format "makes it an event and people know they will get a more deluxe experience and they'll get the entire image," said Counter.

"Well, how rare is that if you're a movie nut?" asked Caldwell. "People travel thousands of miles to see that."

The Times spoke with moviegoers who did just that:

Sean Smrtka, 46

Where do you live? Outside of Cleveland

What theater did you watch the film in? IMAX Theatre in the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis

Why did you make the trip? The main thought is we only have three actual Imax screens that are remotely accessible — Indianapolis, Grand Rapids and Toronto. I didn't understand any of it until a few years ago when "Oppenheimer" came out. I grabbed a ticket in Indianapolis, I walked in like, "Wow OK, the screen's gigantic," and it just blew my mind how big it was compared to the Imax I know at home. I was completely immersed in it. For the 10-year anniversary in December, I went back out to see "Interstellar."

People think, "Oh it's just bigger or there's more sound," but the aspect ratio actually changes from scene to scene and it really impacts your viewing experience. I took my dad to see "Sinners" in Indianapolis last Thursday. I got dead-center perfect seats. He walked in, he's looking around like, "Where's the screen?" I'm like, "That whole wall is the screen." The movie opened in a 1.43:1 ratio. He's just sitting there looking around, you can tell his mind was blown by it. Hearing him talk about it afterward definitely made the five-hour drive worth it.

David Janove, 36

Where do you live? Chicago

What theater did you watch the film in? IMAX Theatre in the Indiana State Museum

Why did you make the trip? I lived in L.A. and Orange County for 17 years and we're really spoiled there. There's several Imax theaters — the kind of Imax that is capable of showing the real film, not the laser projection. Chicago had one at Navy Pier, but it shut down during COVID and Chicago doesn't even have laser projection.

So when a movie was shot, like "Sinners" was and like Christopher Nolan does his, I want to see it in 70mm Imax, and Indianapolis was the closest. I got a $166 plane ticket just for the day — this was [Tuesday] — I flew out at 7 a.m. from Chicago. My Uber driver even was like, "You're heading to the airport, you don't need any luggage?" I was like, "I don't need luggage today." It's a short flight — only 35 minutes — and relatively cheap. When I landed, I took an Uber to downtown Indianapolis, got lunch, saw "Sinners" and then literally got a Lyft back to the airport and was back in Chicago at 4 p.m. It's a little crazy. I still can't believe that I did that.

I was talking with my girlfriend and my friends about this trip and they were like, "Is it worth it?" and I was like, "Yes, it's worth it because they only put out a 70mm Imax movie once a year." When I saw that YouTube video of Ryan Coogler talking about the different aspect ratios, I was like, "This guy is speaking to me." ... I'm glad he and Christopher Nolan are putting their weight behind 70mm Imax. I'm not a purist, but I want these incredible formats to survive.

Anudeep Metuku, 23

Where do you live? Sacramento

What theater did you watch the film in ? AMC Metreon 16 & IMAX in San Francisco

Why did you make the trip? As soon as the tickets went live, I made sure to get two tickets [for] April 19, but as the day approached, I came upon some information through Reddit saying Ryan Coogler had been at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland on Thursday and that he might be at the Metreon on Friday. So I was contemplating that Friday afternoon if I should make the trip. It was kind of a gamble, but my younger brother, who is also interested in Imax, encouraged me. I was refreshing the page until I got a really good seat and drove two hours straight to San Francisco after work.

Experiencing the film in this format was fantastic, especially knowing that Metreon Imax was Coogler's "home" Imax. I'd seen videos but never been in an auditorium with a director like that. The energy in the room — everyone was really excited when he came in. He mentioned when he presented the film, pointing to the audience, that he sat in almost the same seat as I did for "Sinners" at the Metreon when he watched "The Dark Knight" in 2008 (the first time Imax 70mm was used in a feature film and not a documentary) and that after that he knew he wanted to shoot [on Imax film]. I also got to see "The Dark Knight" in 2008. We were living in Hyderabad, India, and my dad took me and my little brother to an Imax theater called Prasads. That was me and my brother's first exposure to 70mm Imax, and ever since, we always tried to catch Imax movies at Grand Theater venues.

Brendan Cauvel, 27

Where are you from? Washington, D.C.

What theater did you watch the film in? AMC Lincoln Square 13 & IMAX in New York City

Why did you make the trip? In high school and college, I was aware that there was this greater format to see the films, but being from the Midwest, I didn't really have the means. So "Oppenheimer" was the first one that I experienced and I did it for "Dune 2" last year. It was a no-brainer for "Sinners."

I got friends to come with me; we did a three-person road trip and we didn't even stay the night. We left D.C. at 5 a.m., got there by 9, saw the movie at 1 p.m., drove back at 4 and got home by 9. It was a full 10-hour workday. We all loved it. I'm going to see it now for the third time within a week.

What's really special about "Sinners" — [with] everything from the blockbuster horror side, to how they marketed it as a genre film, all the film nerd stuff was sort of the cherry on top.

It's a skill that Ryan Coogler has in general, his ability as a Black filmmaker to weave in Black stories into movies like "Creed" and a Marvel film with "Black Panther," and make that angle digestible for people who are not used to going to films that have social commentary. His ability to make that, and now this technical expertise, digestible in a horror genre is really impressive and special. You don't need to understand that stuff to enjoy it, but for people who understand it, those technical elements add value.

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