To celebrate 50 years of monolith parodies, Warner Bros. is debuting an impressive 70mm print of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey at the Cannes Film Festival before taking the film on the road to select theaters.
The re-release has the backing of Dunkirk director (and 70mm enthusiast) Christopher Nolan, who explained, “For the first time since the original release, this 70mm print was struck from new printing elements made from the original camera negative. This is a true photochemical film recreation. There are no digital tricks, remastered effects, or revisionist edits. This is the unrestored film – that recreates the cinematic event that audiences experienced 50 years ago.”
Kubrick’s wife, Christiane, also lent her support to the reissue. “I am delighted that 2001: A Space Odyssey will be reissued in 70mm, and that Cannes has chosen to honor it,” she said. “If Stanley were alive today, we know he would be in admiration of the films of Christopher Nolan. And so, on behalf of Stanley’s family, I would personally like to thank Christopher for supporting his film.”
Not that you need to be reminded what 2001 — which was nominated for four Oscars, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Director (Kubrick, who was 0-for-4 in this category, lost to Oliver!‘s Carol Reed) — is about, but Warner Bros. released an extremely modern trailer. The only thing missing is a dramatically slowed-down cover song. 2001: A Space Odyssey “comes out” on May 18.
