Director Christopher Nolan is filming four sequences in the next installment of Warner Bros. Pictures' Batman franchise, "The Dark Knight," with extremely high resolution IMAX cameras using the giant 15/70 film format. While it is not unique for a feature lensed on traditional 35mm film to be re-mastered to screen in IMAX® theatres, this marks the first time ever that a major feature film has been even partially shot using IMAX cameras.

Dark Knight Production Credit: Warner Bros.

The marriage of footage filmed with IMAX and 35mm cameras in the final feature will have a major impact on the audience's viewing experience, whether seeing "The Dark Knight" in an IMAX or traditional theatre. When the scenes shot on IMAX cameras are shown in IMAX theatres, the aspect ratio will morph to 1.43 to 1, expanding the image to fill the entire screen and magnifying the overall effect, both literally and figuratively.

The first of the scenes, including a prologue that introduces Batman's arch-nemesis The Joker, was shot in April, several weeks in advance of the actual start of principal photography. Additional selected scenes are being filmed with IMAX cameras during the course of production on "The Dark Knight."