IMAX screens are big, but they’re not quite “you can see it from the moon” big. So it’s unlikely the Inhumans will be able to watch their own series premiere, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The occasionally moon-dwelling beings are getting an ABC show rather than a feature film, and now, details of the unusual new plan are beginning to take shape. As was already reported, the show will launch by airing the first two episodes on more than 1,000 IMAX screens worldwide, starting Labor Day 2017 and running for two weeks before becoming part of the fall TV lineup, where additional network-only content will be added. Now, we know there will be six additional episodes to make up the first season, a limited-run strategy that definitely worked out great for Agent Carter.
Still, it’s the IMAX part of the plan that is so distinct. The company approached Marvel with the idea, and is supposedly paying the costs for the first two episodes, with the resulting installments being shot entirely with IMAX cameras—which, again, will definitely not backfire when audiences tune in and see a much-diminished version of the series on the small screen starting with episode three. (It is stated that subsequent action scenes will still be filmed with the technology, teasing some of those scenes being “set on the moon,” which will likely come with a bottom-of-the-screen disclaimer informing you “objects in space are bigger than they appear, so be impressed.”) Still, it’s a new way to try and generate attention for the superhero series, and if the more than $2 million in revenue earned by the Game Of Thrones IMAX stunt last year is any indication, there’s a good chance this will end in many more IMAX premieres for action-heavy shows, meaning we can all look forward to the inevitable super-sized screen reboot of T.J. Hooker sometime in 2018.