Christopher Nolan’s Next IMAX Movie Announced for Summer 2026 Release
Director Christopher Nolan’s next film is set to premiere in the summer of 2026, with an anticipated release in IMAX theaters.
Following the critical and commercial success of Oppenheimer last year, Nolan will release his eagerly awaited next movie in IMAX theaters on July 17, 2026.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Matt Damon is in talks to star in Nolan’s upcoming movie and the film is expected to shoot in early 2025.
The film will be produced by Universal which produced Nolan’s previous film Oppenheimer. The plot details of the movie are being kept secret as with any Nolan project.
However, according to sources cited by The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is not a big-screen adaptation of the 1960s British television series The Prisoner, which Nolan had considered developing in the 2000s.
Unlike Oppenheimer, which was acquired by Universal through a highly-controlled competitive auction, Nolan’s new film project went directly to the studio.
Universal always seemed like the logical landing spot given the success Nolan saw with Oppenheimer at the film studio. The movie grossed $328.9 million at the domestic box office and $975.6 million worldwide and won seven Academy Awards as well.
Nolan’s Love Affair with IMAX Cameras
It is no surprise that the filmmaker’s next project is slated for an IMAX release. Nolan’s love affair with IMAX cameras is no secret and the director views IMAX (and its 70mm format) as the “gold standard” of cinema.
Nolan’s enthusiasm for IMAX cameras even led him to invent new lenses so that he could film movies the way he wants to.
Nolan’s summer blockbuster Oppenheimer was shot entirely on IMAX 65mm and Panavision 65mm cameras. But while these cameras have only ever been used for big, landscape, establishing shots, Oppenheimer used them for close-up shots too.
Since IMAX cameras have never been used to get up close to an actor delivering their lines, the Oppenheimer filmmaker created new lenses so they could get these tight shots.
As well as Nolan’s next feature, there is only one other movie in 2025 that is currently slated to be shot with IMAX film cameras. In May, PetaPixel reported that an as-yet-unnamed thriller movie directed by Ryan Coogler and featuring actor Michael B. Jordan will be the only other production utilizing the awesome power of an IMAX film camera.
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