IMAX, the neck cramp inducing, motion sickness causing fad method of projection available at 280 screens across America, is looming large in the mind of The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, who is shooting four action scenes for the movie using the big ass format. One of the scenes will be the introduction of the Joker during a bank heist, which is apparently the scene when he gets his gruesome scar smile (supposedly, and don’t take this as gospel, a batarang snaps a high tension zip line in the Joker’s face).
"There’s simply nothing like seeing a movie that way," Nolan told USA Today. "It’s more immersive for the audience. I wish I could shoot the entire thing this way." The four scenes will be extra crisp for IMAX audiences, who usually see movies stretched out to fit the giant screens.
"You can’t do this on any home theater," Nolan says. "Batman has some of the most extraordinary characters in pop culture. We wanted the Joker to have the grandest entrance possible.
"I figured if you could take an IMAX camera to Mount Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie."
The USA Today article includes some new pictures of the Joker – above – and his gang, who wear clown masks. I believe that the picture on the USA Today site has the Joker himself out of focus in the background.