Paramount Pictures may be the first movie studio to phase out 35 millimeter film for its big theatrical releases, according to The Los Angeles Times, this would make ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street ‘ the first movie to kick off the trend while Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues will be the last blockbuster to be released on 35mm film by the studio.
So far this move is US only, the rest of the world will still be getting traditional film tapes but if more studio's follow in Paramount's footsteps, we might see this spread to other parts of the world fast enough. Cinemas might need to get in to gear though as around 8 per cent of US theatres aren't equipped to screen digital movies, the process might start off slow but eventually more studios will adopt this method and go digital only and if those cinemas can't afford the high price of a digital projector then we might see a few go out of business.
While talking to The Los Angeles Times, Christopher Horak, Director of the UCLA Film & Television Archive said that this change is of “huge significance”: “For 120 years, film and 35 mm has been the format of choice for theatrical presentations. Now we're seeing the end of that. I'm not shocked that it's happened, but how quickly it has happened.”
KitGuru Says: This won't be such a big deal for most people, we are used to digital distribution by now but it is amazing how long 35mm film has lasted, 120 years of showing movies in the same way is about to come to an end and that deserves some recognition.