More Kirsten Dunst's Head: 'Spider-Man 4' Goes IMAX

The trend of putting big Hollywood movies on bigger screens is continuing to gain traction, with IMAX announcing today that Spider-Man 4 will kick off summer 2011 on those movie screens the size of football fields. It's a naturaly extension of what we've already seen out of the Hollywood studios, which have over the past two or three years really pushed their big, expensive, effects-laden summer blockbusters into IMAX theaters for what would presumably be a more immersive experience. Some films, like the Harry Potter movies, only look and sound bigger, but others, like The Dark Knight and the first Transformers really benefit from the upgrade. Of course, there are two standards here: Some films shoot scenes specifically for IMAX theaters, employing the unique IMAX camera in those instances, while other movies are simply converted up to the digital format that IMAX recognizes. The effect of the latter is not the same as seeing, say, Everest or Space Station 3-D, two films that have earned over $100 million each from years of repertory performances around the world. Those films are shot in the 65mm film, and it requires three times as much film to shoot a second of footage. That increases the resolution and is the primary reason the IMAX science films look better than everything else. In this case, it's standard 35mm on steroids, not that IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond is any less excited about it:

"Spider-Man continues to be one of the world’s most popular motion picture franchises, and we are very excited to include the latest chapter as part of our 2011 slate. Our network has grown significantly and we continue to roll-out new theatres virtually every week, giving more moviegoers the opportunity to experience the movie in IMAX."

Much like the new 3-D craze, I wish some of these decision makers would step back and ask why they're using IMAX and if they're doing it for the right reasons. Avatar is changing 3-D (or that's what we hear), and some of the IMAX releases are advancing the technology, but this is basically making a Blu-ray version of your VHS tapes. It's a nice bit of profit to tack on to the final numbers, but won't it get boring after a while if that's all we see?