PTA Rumored To Be Considering A Return To 70MM For Next Project

At the 2015 Cine Gear Expo, which ended yesterday, Panavision screened test footage from Quentin Tarantino's forthcoming western The Hateful Eight and according to virtually everyone who was in attendance, the footage looked absolutely stunning.

Some background: Hateful was shot on 70mm with anamorphic lenses, which creates a much wider frame than 35mm anamorphic (35 anamorphic typically preserves 2.35:1 while 70 anamorphic preserves a massive 2.78:1). For reference, The Master was shot on 70mm with spherical lenses rather than anamorphic, and created a frame less wide than even 35mm anamorphic, preserving 1.85:1. So the difference in widescreen between The Hateful Eight and The Master is insanely huge.

And here's the really cool part: PTA may be taking a crack at Tarantino's wider 70mm format soon. According to camera/lens technician Scott Gleine, who was at the test screening, someone asked during the open audience Q&A portion of the presentation if any other filmmakers had seen or shown interest in the format since the Hateful test footage had been shot, and Panavision's VP of Optical Engineering, Dan Sasaki, specifically mentioned that Paul Thomas Anderson had seen the footage and is strongly considering the same format for his next project.

For what it's worth, PTA has mentioned before that Dan Saski was an integral voice in the decision to shoot The Master on 70mm, so his perspective is definitely worth noting.

But what is the project???

We're not sure just yet. But we do recall PTA mentioning he'd be interested in using 70mm in its intended aspect ratio when we chatted with him about The Master.

Time should clear up all the questions that are already percolating around this development, but now comes the hard part: the sitting and waiting.

(P.S. Here's another account of the event, via @TheValidAlex)

C&RV
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