How IMAX changed what cinemas need to be.

Streaming didn’t replace cinema.

It removed the need to go.

So cinemas had to offer something that couldn’t be replicated at home.

Not just better films.

A different experience.

That’s where IMAX fits in.

Not as a novelty—but as a response.

A larger image.

A shifting aspect ratio.

Sound designed for scale rather than portability.

It’s not trying to compete with streaming.

It’s trying to make the comparison irrelevant.

What Follows

Once those screens are in place, something else happens.

They need to be justified.

A standard release doesn’t fully use them.

It fills the space, but it doesn’t define it.

So the pressure shifts upstream.

Studios begin backing films that can carry that scale—projects that don’t just play in large format, but are designed for it.

Not all at once, and not as a coordinated move.

But consistently enough to change the landscape.

Designed for Scale

There’s a difference between a film that’s shown in large format and one that’s built for it.

The latter understands what the format does to an image.

It changes how space is perceived.

How movement reads.

How long a shot can hold.

Filmmakers like Christopher Nolan have pushed that distinction into the mainstream.

Not by explaining it—but by making it obvious.

You don’t need to be told a film was designed for IMAX.

You can feel it.

The BFI IMAX in London.

The Loop

Once those films succeed, the effect compounds.

Cinemas continue investing in premium screens.

Studios continue supplying films that justify them.

Audiences begin to associate cinema with something larger than what they can access at home.

Not universally—but enough.

It doesn’t replace other forms of filmmaking.

But it shifts where the centre of gravity sits.

A Practical Shift

For cinematography, this changes the question.

It’s no longer just how an image looks.

It’s whether it holds at scale.

Some images expand.

Others just get bigger.

That distinction becomes harder to ignore the larger the canvas gets.

What This Really Is

This isn’t a trend or a marketing angle.

It’s a feedback loop between exhibition and production.

Streaming clarified what cinema isn’t.

Formats like IMAX are defining what it is.

Mark