Batman Begins Goes IMAX For Pre-Dark Knight Rises Midnight Screenings

Ever since Clash of the Titans was quickly post-converted to 3D after the success of Avatar the public has been a bit more weary about the idea of changing film formats. Due to lesser quality conversions many members of the movie-going audience began to see 3D as a gimmick and a cash grab. In the years since, of course, the technology has gotten much better and there have been some post-converted films that have better 3D than ones shot in the third dimension natively. But what will they make of IMAX conversions?

According to Variety, Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins will be undergoing a transformation in preparation for special IMAX screenings that will be held prior to the release of The Dark Knight Rises. The conversion is being done to fit in with Nolan's other Batman films, as 20 minutes of The Dark Knight was filmed with the special cameras and reports about The Dark Knight Rises have said that an hour of the film is in the expanded format. Warner Bros. is teaming with AMC for the screenings and they will be held in 296 locations around the country (including 76 IMAX theaters). Screenings will begin at 6:00pm on July 16th and conclude with the midnight screenings of The Dark Knight Rises. AMC ran a similar promotion in May leading up to The Avengers.

Said AMC Programming President Robert Lenihan, "As anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises has risen, our guests have made their voices heard about the kind of experience they expect for this installment of what's become a legendary franchise. We have been working to ensure we could provide our guests an event that was truly, completely in IMAX."

Are you planning to go to see Batman Begins and The Dark Knight prior to the midnight screenings of The Dark Knight Rises? If so, do you plan on hunting down an IMAX theater for the full experience? Let us know in the comments section below.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.