M. Night Shyamalan’s New Movie ‘Remain’ Will be Shot on VistaVision Film

May 14, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A woman with short blonde hair in a gray suit stands in a dimly lit bedroom, casting a shadow on the wall. The room has a green bed with a floral cover, a bedside lamp, and dark-colored walls and doors. — A still from Alfred Hitchcock’s *Vertigo*, one of the most famous films to be shot on VistaVision.

No filmmakers had used VistaVision to shoot a full movie in 63 years until last year when The Brutalist wowed audiences — particularly those sitting in 70mm IMAX theaters.

But what is old becomes new again; it is being reported that famous filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, director of The Sixth Sense, is using VistaVision to film his upcoming 2026 flick Remain.

The movie, scheduled for theaters on October 23, 2026, is an original “supernatural romantic thriller” distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It will feature Jake Gyllenhaal, Phoebe Dynevor, and Ashley Walters.

World of Reel notes that the trend may have been kickstarted by Yorgos Lanthimos who shot select scenes of 2022’s Poor Things in VistaVision.

VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35mm motion picture film, finished on 70mm. It was was created in 1954 by Paramount Pictures engineers, unlike the traditional vertical 35mm format it runs film horizontally through the camera. This allows for a larger frame size, capturing an image that is eight perforations wide (the space between sprocket holes), compared to the standard four perforations in the vertical format.

The first feature film to be released in the format was White Christmas (1954). Alfred Hitchcock turned to VistaVision for Vertigo (1958) and North by Northwest (1959). Shyamalan is a known fan of Hitchcock’s movies.

The last full VistaVision release before The Brutalist was 1961’s One-Eyed Jacks starring Marlon Brando. In the intervening period, films, including Star Wars and Indiana Jones, have used the format for visual effect purposes but never to shoot a full movie.

That’s all about to change since there are no less than six films slated for release that are utilizing VistaVision. The Brutalist did win the Oscar for cinematography this year (and Adrian Brody won the Oscar for Best Actor) so perhaps these future productions are trying to emulate the A24 release’s success.

Three silhouetted figures walk through a dimly lit stone tunnel, with light visible at the far end. The central figure wears a distinctive hat, creating a mysterious atmosphere. Stone walls tower on both sides. — Still from *The Brutalist*.

Films made by Greta Gerwig, Paul Thomas Anderson, Yorgos Lanthimos, Emerald Fennell, and Alejandro González Iñárritu are all set to be VistaVision.

It means that all of these films might be available to watch on a 70mm projector at an IMAX theater. Talking about 70mm was once the preserve of movie wonks but it has entered the mainstream thanks to large format screenings of movies like Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and Dune: Part Two.