The Music Box is very pleased to present the 6th iteration of our 70MM FILM FESTIVAL. After 7 years of 70mm festivals and a flurry of new 70mm releases including DUNKIRK, PHANTOM THREAD, and ROMA, we no longer have to say things like “70mm was once a popular format.” Instead, the images — rich in color, contrast, and detail — can speak for themselves.

Opening with a special 35mm presentation of THE BIG TRAIL (1930) — the only surviving feature film shot in Fox’s 70mm Fox Grandeur system and John Wayne’s first starring role —  this festival reaches back to the very early days of widescreen projection. Writing on Museum of Modern Art’s restoration of THE BIG TRAIL in 1988, then Chicago Tribune Critic Dave Kehr called the film “a milestone, a film at least 25 years ahead of its time in its visual strategies and one that can still astonish with the depth and sweep of its imagery.” 

Returning to the festival after a brief period of hibernation is our beautiful 70mm print of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, made specifically for the Music Box Theatre. Also on the schedule are LAST ACTION HERO, LIFEFORCE, and THE UNTOUCHABLES, screening in gorgeous, vintage Blowup prints from the year of their original release; big budget studio musicals WEST SIDE STORY and HELLO, DOLLY!; the rarely screened Ultra-Panavision specticle KHARTOUM; modern classics INTERSTELLAR, MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (playing for the first time in 70mm in Chicago!), ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, and ROMA; and Disney’s original TRON. 

Despite renewed interest in 70mm, the format still requires great care in handling and presentation. Many of the prints screened in this festival are one of a kind and cannot be replaced, and a great many films we’d like to show are simply unavailable (though that doesn’t mean we’ll stop trying!). There is only one lab left in the world which can process and print 70mm film, and the success and continuation of the format depends on the interest of the public, and the talents of the filmmakers, technicians, lab workers, and projectionists who bring these films to the screen. 

CLICK HERE to Purchase a 70MM Festival Pass

PRICINGFull Festival Pass - $80 General Admission / $60 Music Box Members - Guarantees entry into all screenings at THE 70MM FILM FESTIVAL