Movies

'Black Widow' IMAX Screenings Will Feature 22 Minutes Of Larger Aspect Ratio Footage

Black Widow IMAX visual
By Ben Pearson

Marvel Studios' Phase Four kicks off on the big screen next month with Black Widow, the spy thriller starring Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Rachel Weisz. And if you happen to see the movie in an IMAX theater, you'll get an eyeful: IMAX audiences will get to see over 20 minutes of footage in the expanded aspect ratio that the company is known for.

Deadline reports that Black Widow, the first Marvel Studios feature film to be released since Spider-Man: Far From Home hit theaters back in July of 2019, "will debut with 22 minutes of select scenes in expanded aspect ratio" exclusively in IMAX theaters. That's on track with the early projections IMAX announced on an earnings call last year, when the company said there would be about 30 minutes of footage in that larger ratio.

Keep in mind that while Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were the first two Hollywood movies to be filmed entirely using IMAX cameras, there has been no confirmation that Black Widow was shot using IMAX cameras. That means that the 22 minutes of 1.90:1 aspect ratio footage audiences will see was accomplished without the use of native IMAX technology, and instead was formatted in post-production for that ratio change, which includes roughly 26% more footage in the picture than a regular theater screen. Here's a visual of what the difference will look like between a traditional theater and an IMAX theater:

Jac Schaeffer (WandaVision) and Ned Benson (The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby) wrote the film's script. Johansson reprises her role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow in what should amount to a sustained flashback that takes place long before the character meets her fate in Avengers: Endgame. O-T Fagbenle, William Hurt, and Ray Winstone round out the rest of the primary cast.

Here is the film's official synopsis:

In Marvel Studios' action-packed spy thriller "Black Widow," Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.

After being delayed from its initial planned release last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, Black Widow will finally arrive in theaters and will be available to stream with Disney+ Premier Access on July 9, 2021.

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