‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ IMAX Details

While in production on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams released a photo teasing an IMAX camera on set. A few months later, the director revealed that only one scene was actually filmed in IMAX, but he promised that it was a pretty great one. But which scene is it, exactly?

According to Making Star Wars, the scene in question takes place on the desert planet Jakku — we’ve seen bits of that sequence in the trailers, with Daisy Ridley and John Boyega running away from an explosion, and the Millennium Falcon fighting off TIE Fighters. Jakku makes sense, as the photo of the IMAX camera was taken in Abu Dhabi, where the Jakku scenes were filmed.

But if you want to really enjoy this IMAX sequence, you’ll have to go to a “true” IMAX theater — the ones with the eight-story-tall screens and 70mm projection. If you go to a “fake” IMAX theater, the scene will be converted to digital IMAX format, meaning it won’t be presented the way Abrams intended, nor will you get the full effect.

In addition, Making Star Wars posted some comparison shots from the trailer, to give you an idea of what the film will look like in regular theatrical format and what it looks like in true IMAX:

Lucasfilm / Making Star Wars

And one more thing: the site reports that tickets for the film will be available for pre-order sometime in September or October. You’ll most definitely want to buy your tickets ahead of time.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18.

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