For ‘Oppenheimer’ 70mm Print, Imax Needed to Write Software to Emulate a 2002 PalmPilot Device to Control Massive Film Platters
variety.comTodd Spangler NY Digital Editor Hey, if it ain’t broke — don’t fix it. Imax developed control software that emulates a two-decade-old PalmPilot PDA for the release of Christopher Nolan’s three-hour “Oppenheimer” epic.
The 70mm Imax print of “Oppenheimer” comprises a whopping 11 miles of film stock weighing about 600 pounds, and required the company to build extensions to accommodate the larger size of the film platters.
That’s because Imax’s existing platters could only hold enough film for a 150-minute runtime. Imax’s PalmPilot software runs the projection systems’ Quick Turn Reel Unit, which manages the operation and transition between multiple reels.
Why is Imax using 21-year-old technology originally created by a long-defunct manufacturer, anyway? In a statement to Vice’s Motherboard, an Imax rep said, “The original Quick Turn Reel Units operated on PalmPilots.
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