‘Star Wars: Rogue One’ May Be Presented in Ultra Widescreen

As noted in the trailer for The Hateful Eight and as highly promoted by Quentin Tarantino himself, the director utilized Ultra Panavision 70 lenses along with 65mm film to create a widescreen effect that hasn’t been on the big screen in decades. According to a new report, Gareth Edwards may be taking a little inspiration from Tarantino on Star Wars: Rogue One.

First reported months ago by THR and given a bit of a boost today by The Playlist, cinematographer Greig Fraser is using those Ultra Panavision 70 lenses — the same ones Tarantino unearthed to use on The Hateful Eight — to film Rogue One. The similarities end there, as it’s highly unlikely that Edwards will use 65mm, and will instead opt to use the lenses along with the Arri Alexa 65mm digital camera.

Still, it will give us the most cinematic Star Wars film yet, and will allow for Edwards and Fraser to cover far more space, which is great for IMAX presentation. As Slashfilm’s Russ Fischer points out in his great reporting on the cameras and lenses, the Arri Alexa 65 large-format 6K digital camera has been used by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu on The Revenant and was customized for the IMAX digital camera used for sequences in Captain America: Civil War.

If you live near a theater with 70mm projection, you’ll be able to get an idea of how these lenses can be put to excellent use when The Hateful Eight opens in 70mm-equipped theaters this Christmas. Basically, you should be pretty excited about a Star Wars film shot with such precision and detail.

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