Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be hitting a ton of IMAX theaters when it releases in December. It's projected that 375 to 400 IMAX theaters will be showing the film, except a majority of those theaters won't be showing it the way it was filmed.
According to a picture tweeted by Bad Robot – director JJ Ambrams' production company, some scenes of the film have been shot in 70mm – a format supported by only 18 IMAX theaters in the US and Canada. The rest of the theaters are digital IMAX theaters, which don't have the expensive 70mm projectors and screens.
What does this mean? You're paying for IMAX, but will be watching the movie on a smaller screen with lower resolution.
Here's an example, courtesy of Screen Crush (via Reddit):
Here's where you can watch the The Force Awakens the way it was filmed…
Star Wars: The Force Awakens in IMAX 2D on IMAX 15/70mm Film Projection
Alabama
- McWane Center IMAX Dome Theatre – Birmingham
- IMAX, U.S. Space & Rocket Center – Huntsville
California
- Hackworth IMAX Dome, The Tech Museum – San Jose
Florida
- Museum of Discovery & Science AutoNation IMAX – Ft. Lauderdale
- IMAX Dome, Museum of Science & Industry – Tampa
Indiana
- IMAX, Indiana State Museum – Indianapolis
Iowa
- Blank IMAX Dome, Science Center of Iowa – Des Moines
Missouri
- Branson’s IMAX, Entertainment Complex – Branson
- St. Louis Science Center OMNIMAX Theatre – St. Louis
Pennsylvania
- Tuttleman IMAX, The Franklin Institute– Philadelphia
Washington, DC
- Lockheed Martin IMAX, National Air & Space Museum
.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens in IMAX 3D in IMAX with Laser
California
-
TCL Chinese Theatres IMAX – Hollywood
-
AMC Metreon 16 & IMAX – San Francisco
-
AMC Universal CityWalk Stadium 19 & IMAX – Universal City
Massachusetts
- Sunbrella IMAX 3D Theatre, Jordan’s Furniture Reading – Reading
Ontario
- Scotiabank Toronto & IMAX – Toronto
Virginia
- Airbus IMAX, Stephen F. Udvar-Hazy Center – Chantilly
Washington
- Boeing IMAX, Pacific Science Center – Seattle
