VistaVision

When the rise of television threatened movie attendance in the 1950s, Hollywood responded by introducing several new exhibition formats designed to bring people back to theaters with the promise of widescreen images and stereophonic sound. CinemaScope, Cinerama, and VistaVision were just a few of these processes, which dazzled audiences and yielded films like “The Robe,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” and “Around the World in 80 Days,” attracting customers in droves.

Now, as exhibitors struggle with the rise of streaming and declining theater attendance, one of America’s greatest living filmmakers has revived one of the greatest of all widescreen formats, giving today’s audiences the same reason to get off their couches that Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Curtiz, and other premier directors of their era gave in the 1950s. The glorious return of VistaVision began last year when Brady Corbet shot “The Brutalist” in the format and exhibited the film in several venues in 70mm, a gauge that approximates VistaVision’s high resolution — but that was only the beginning.

Now, director Paul Thomas Anderson has not only filmed but is releasing “One Battle After Another” in VistaVision, with a handful of venues projecting the movie in a format that hasn’t been seen by audiences of a new release film since Marlon Brando’s “One-Eyed Jacks” in 1961. (Lucky viewers at this year’s TCM Film Festival did get to see revivals of “We’re No Angels” and “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” in true VistaVision.)

Why is that important? And what does it mean for audiences, filmmakers, and projectionists? Let’s break it down.

What made VistaVision special compared to rival formats like CinemaScope was its larger negative — around twice the size of a typical 35mm film frame, as the film was run through the camera horizontally rather than vertically. As Margaret Bodde, who works with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, told IndieWire, “With CinemaScope, you have a four-perf negative. VistaVision is eight-perf, so you’re doubling the size of the image. It just has a superior image quality.”

In spite of that superior quality, VistaVision ultimately became more or less obsolete for feature film production, though it continued to be used extensively for special effects work on blockbusters like the original “Star Wars,” “Back to the Future,” and “Jurassic Park.” “One Battle After Another” was shot using a combination of VistaVision and Super 35, and will be released in no fewer than seven formats. This has led to intense excitement among cinephiles — and no small amount of misinformation.

In one example, a fan-created graphic recently took off on social media and led to widespread confusion over aspect ratios of the various exhibition formats. (Among other things, it incorrectly stated that the movie would be released in a 2.20:1 aspect ratio in 70mm.) To clarify what formats “One Battle After Another” will be presented in, their technical specs, and where to see them, IndieWire reached out to the source: Paul Thomas Anderson.

Anderson referred us to three members of his post-production team: editor Andy Jurgensen, post-production supervisor Erica Frauman, and associate editor Jay Trautman, all of whom dealt with the complexities of VistaVision and the movie’s varied release prints throughout the post-production process. Together, they addressed several important questions related to the different ways you can watch “One Battle After Another” when it opens in theaters on September 26.

The below interview condenses and combines responses from Jurgensen, Frauman, and Trautman on the specifics of formats for seeing “One Battle After Another.”

What Are the Release Formats for “One Battle After Another,” Their Aspect Ratios, and Sound Specs?

What Aspect Ratio Was the Movie Originally Shot in?

The film was shot using a combination of VistaVision (8-perf) and Super 35 (4-perf) formats. (“Perf” referring to the perforations that run alongside or — depending on the format — above and below the image so that the celluloid can be pulled through the projector.) Both offer a tall enough negative to accommodate the full IMAX 1.43:1 aspect ratio, though the image can be cropped top and bottom to fit the 1.90:1 IMAX or standard 1.85:1 aspect ratios. Camera operator Colin Anderson used ground glass marked with framelines for both 1.85:1 and 1.43:1 compositions to ensure flexibility in framing.

When the opportunity for special VistaVision screenings arose, Paul Thomas Anderson chose to present the film in the full 1.50:1 VistaVision frame, an aspect ratio very close to IMAX’s 1.43:1. The 5-perf 70mm version is presented in 1.85:1, pillarboxed within a 2.20:1 frame, while standard DCPs are also formatted in 1.85:1.

How Do the Different Release Formats Complicate the Post Process?

We often say that each release format offers its own unique experience of the film. In the photochemical world, it’s impossible to make all formats look exactly the same!

Because the film was shot with both VistaVision and Super 35mm cameras, we had to navigate not only multiple release formats but also multiple capture formats. If we were using the digital intermediate process that nearly every modern film uses, we would just scan all of the negative and resize it in a computer. However, we cut and splice the camera negative and print photochemically. This means that we had to figure out how to create the VistaVision negative from our Super 35mm shots and our digital visual effects. We started testing these processes over two years ago. In the end, FotoKem configured both an optical printer and a digital film recorder specifically for VistaVision, allowing us to create all the necessary elements to assemble a complete VistaVision negative and produce a VistaVision release print.

Does Paul Thomas Anderson Have a Preferred Format?

Paul has noted that the VistaVision presentation is the closest to the film’s intended look, as it’s struck directly from the VistaVision cut negative. There are only four of these special screening venues currently scheduled — in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, and London.

That said, we always knew there would be an IMAX release, so from the beginning, the 1.43:1 and 1.90:1 IMAX presentations (both film and digital) were intended to be the most immersive. This is the first narrative feature film to be presented entirely in IMAX’s 1.43:1 aspect ratio (with no jumping between aspect ratios). The 70mm (5-perf) version is an optical blow-up from the VistaVision-cut negative. It has slightly more grain and contrast, and its 1.85:1 aspect ratio matches the non-IMAX DCP presentations.

What Does It Really Mean to Capture and Project in True VistaVision?

Unlike traditional 35mm film, which runs vertically through the camera gate, VistaVision uses a horizontal feed. This allows the image to be recorded on a frame that is twice the size of a standard 4-perf 35mm frame, resulting in a finer-grained negative with improved image quality.

Just like the cameras, VistaVision projectors must also run the film horizontally. Very few of these projectors still exist today. According to VistaVision expert Charlotte Barker, “It’s been exactly 70 years since VistaVision projectors were first installed for commercial use, debuting with Paramount’s ‘Strategic Air Command’ in 1955. Back then, seven U.S. theaters were outfitted with VistaVision projectors, custom 2-foot-deep curvilinear screens, and special aperture plates. ‘One Battle After Another’ will echo this historic rollout next week at The Vista in Los Angeles, Regal Union Square 17 in New York, Coolidge Corner Theater in Boston, and Odeon Leicester Square in London.”

Warner Bros. refurbished two Ballantyne VistaVision projectors for use in Los Angeles and New York; Barry Wright (Bell Theatre Services) refreshed their VistaVision projector in London. Boston Light & Sound had previously refurbished two projectors supplied by the George Eastman Museum for the TCM Festival in April of 2025; these will be used in Boston. Each Ballantyne projector is equipped with DTS readers to synchronize audio and fitted with custom-built platters capable of running the entire two-hour, 40-minute film on a single reel. The Boston location will utilize two projectors and play reel-to-reel. Projectionists at each location are receiving specialized training to operate the equipment.

Projecting in VistaVision allows prints made directly from the original cut negative to be shown to an audience. This hasn’t been possible for over 60 years. Historically, footage shot on VistaVision had to be converted to another format for exhibition. As far as we know, this is the first new release feature film to be projected from true VistaVision prints since “One-Eyed Jacks” in 1961.

Where Can We See the Movie Projected on Film?

See the below listings across select cities when “One Battle After Another” opens starting September 26.

VISTAVISION ENGAGEMENTS

Los Angeles, CA, USA — Vista Theater
New York, NY, USA — Regal Union Square 17
Boston, MA, USA — Coolidge Corner Theater
London, England, UK — Odeon Leicester Square

IMAX 70MM (15-PERF) ENGAGEMENTS

Dallas, TX, USA — Webb Chapel IMAX
Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA — AutoNation IMAX
Indianapolis, IN, USA — Indiana State Museum
Irvine, CA, USA — Regal Edwards Irvine Spectrum 21
London, England, UK — BFI IMAX
New York, NY, USA — AMC Lincoln Square 13
San Francisco, CA, USA — AMC Metreon 16
Tempe, AZ, USA — Harkins Arizona Mills 18
Universal City, CA, USA — AMC Universal Citywalk 19
Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada — Cineplex Vaughan IMAX

70MM (5-PERF) ENGAGEMENTS

Atlanta, GA, USA — Plaza
Austin, TX, USA — Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Berlin, Germany — Delphi
Berlin, Germany — Zoo
Chicago, IL, USA — Music Box
Copenhagen, Denmark — Denmark Imperial
Dublin, Ireland — Irish Film Institute
Melbourne, Australia — Palace
Milwaukee, WI, USA — Oriental
New Orleans, LA, USA — Prytania
New York, NY, USA — Alamo Drafthouse Downtown Brooklyn
New York, NY, USA — Angelika Cinema 1, 2, 3
New York, NY, USA — Angelika Village East 7
Oakland, CA, USA — Grand Lake
Portland, OR, USA — Hollywood
San Francisco, CA, USA — Alamo Drafthouse New Mission
Silver Spring, MD, USA — AFI Silver
Somerville, MA, USA — Somerville
Sydney, Australia — Ritz
Vancouver, BC, Canada — Park

Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” opens in theaters on September 26. Special thanks to Benjamin Tucker for his assistance with this article.