Star Wars: Episode VII Is Shooting In IMAX

With production for Star Wars: Episode VII underway, we’ve already had more than our fair share of rumors and hints at what the first film in the next Star Wars trilogy might feature. Fortunately, today’s information about a galaxy far, far away is actually some solid news, albeit not the most groundbreaking.

J.J. Abrams Tweeted a picture from set today showing an IMAX camera accompanied by the hashtag #bestformatever.

#bestformatever pic.twitter.com/fs6JcTALmZ

— Bad Robot (@bad_robot) July 8, 2014

There’s also been word that the movie will be shot on 35mm film, so it’s safe to assume the IMAX-exclusive camera is only for part of shooting.

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, for a few reasons. Abrams already showed he enjoys the format with the masterful things he did on 70mm for Star Trek. There were also earlier reports that the film would be shown in IMAX, though there was nothing concrete to indicate that it would be shot exclusively for the format, as opposed to converted later. But probably the main reason that this should come as no surprise is the fact that this is a big-budget movie being made in the 21st century.

I think it’s safe to assume that just about every huge sci-fi and action movie is going to be shown in IMAX, if not shot in it, these days. For something as big as Star Wars, there’s no reason to not get the absolute best footage possible so that you can charge the absolute most for tickets and rack up those box office figures.

Regardless of the commercial reasons that are behind this decision, I couldn’t be happier to hear about it. Everything Abrams does is a visual spectacle, and the same can be said about prior Star Wars films. I have a hunch between the improved technology and Bad Robot behind the camera, Episode VII is going to be the most visually spectacular of Lucas’ saga yet.

Star Wars: Episode VII is set to land in theaters on December 18, 2015.