'Star Wars Episode IX' Will Be Shot on 65mm Film

There are three Star Wars movies that will be released before Star Wars Episode IX hits theaters in 2019, but already little tidbits about the film are being released.  Today Kodak announced that Episode IX will be shot on 65mm film.  The news came as part of Kodak's  announcement that they would be opening a processing plant for 65mm film in the UK.  Episode IX director Colin Trevorrow shot part of JurrasicWorld on 65mm film and it seems he'll be using it for the majority of the ninth installment in the saga.Trevorrow had previously stated that he would be continuing the trend JJ Abrams started and Rian Johnson continued of shooting the sequel trilogy on film (rather than on digital cameras, like Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith, and Rogue One were).  Both The Force Awakens and Episode VIII were shot mainly on 35mm film.

65mm film is is a higher resolution than 35mm (which most films are shot on) and will make the film more appropriate for large format projection, such as IMAX.  Abrams shot the Millennium Falcon Jakku escape scene using IMAX cameras (which use 65mm film).  It doesn't seem like any Episode VIII will be shot outside of the 35mm format, despite what director Rian Johnson had hoped.  /Film's Peter Sciretta suggests that Johnson, "wanted to shoot the movie in 65mm, but there was no film processing facility in the UK capable of handling the footage. He would have had to ship the footage to a facility in the US, delaying dailies for upwards of a business week, which puts a filmmaker at a disadvantage."

Star Wars Episode IX hits theaters in 2019.