May 22nd 2026 will see the release of the long-awaited The Mandalorian & Grogu, and along with all the other cool elements we can hope for from this long-awaited return to the big screen, we can also get excited for the film being screened in IMAX which will allow us the largest, sharpest and most impressive image around.
According to IMAX’s Investor Presentation in July 2024, Disney has several films slated for an IMAX release in 2026, including The Mandalorian & Grogu, Toy Story 5, Avatar – The Seed Bearer, and MOANA. Among them, The Mandalorian & Grogu is one of only four movies in the 2026 slate confirmed to be FILMED FOR IMAX/ FILM CAMERAS. The camera logo under a movie indicates that it’s “Filmed for IMAX.”
IMAX is “a technique of widespread cinematography which produces an image approximately ten times larger than that from standard 35 mm film.” According to In Depth Cine, a larger image means a higher-quality image:
“The larger the surface area of a piece of film, the more photographic information it will contain. This means that an Imax image resolves much more detail and has very little visible film grain. Basically, Imax footage will look significantly cleaner and higher quality.”
“Filmed for IMAX” differs from “Shot with IMAX,” and an IMAX film falls into one of these two categories. “Filmed for IMAX” means to film with cameras approved by IMAX, and “Shot for IMAX” means to film with IMAX 65mm cameras. Both techniques result in a highly detailed and large image size.
