Imax and Imagine Documentaries Strike Multiyear Partnership

Imax and Imagine Documentaries — a division of Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment — have struck a new, five-picture production and distribution agreement that will marry their longtime interest in the doc space.

The slate of films will cover topics including space, exploration, natural sciences, music, civilization, society and more. They will play and will be distributed across Imax’s global network of commercial and institutional theaters (the latter category includes museums).

Mars 2080, a large-format event doc about celestial travel and taking viewers inside a Mars colony set 60 years in the future, will kick off the Imax-Imagine pact sometime in 2022.

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Eliza McNitt (Spheres) is directing the documentary from a script she co-wrote with Lynn Renee Maxcy (The Handmaid’s Tale). Producers include Grazer and Howard, who were a driving force behind Apollo 13 getting made. Imagine also produced Mars.

Imagine is producing and co-financing Mars 2080 with Procter & Gamble.

Executive producers include Michael Rosenberg and Marc Gilbar for Imagine and Kimberly Doebereiner for P&G Studios. Imagine Documentaries’ Meredith Kaulfers is co-executive producing.

P&G’s research scientists, who are developing more sustainable manufacturing, products, packaging and technology for the future, will work with the filmmakers to creatively forecast what a Mars habitat could look like in 2080. The doc will infuse real science and innovative technologies with VFX and human drama to give audiences a realistic glimpse into the future.

“The unique ability of humans to look past the horizon and into the great beyond has always been vital to pushing society forward, perhaps now more than ever. Imax has always sought to immerse audiences in inspiring visions of the future. Now, with the incredibly creative minds at Imagine as our partners, and with the innovators at P&G for Mars 2080, we’ll have the opportunity to bring even more life-changing experiences to moviegoers all around the world,” said Megan Colligan, president of Imax Entertainment.

Adds Imagine’s Justin Wilkes, “With Mars all over the news, the once-distant dream of humankind traveling there is now well within our reach. In the meantime, we hope that our film will inspire audiences from around the world, school children to adults, to take their own journey to Mars through the magic of this Imax experience.”

In 2002, Howard’s feature film Apollo 13 was re-released in Imax theaters, becoming the first 35mm live-action film ever to be digitally remastered with proprietary Imax DMR technology. Since then, Imax has pushed the limits of documentary filmmaking, sending their cameras into space 24 times.

Top Hollywood stars have often lent their voices to Imax documentaries, including Tom Cruise (Space Station), Jennifer Lawrence (A Beautiful Planet), Kristen Bell (Pandas) and Daisy Ridley (Asteroid Hunters).