IMAX emulates PalmPilot software to power Oppenheimer’s 70 mm release

Enlarge / Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer. (credit: IMAx/Universal Picture/YouTube)

It’s a big week for IMAX, which has been promoting today’s release of Oppenheimer. It’s a particularly big deal for IMAX because the film is the first to get a 70 mm IMAX release since 2020’s Tenet. So, you could understand why the company took to social media to boast of the size and magnitude of running the film, which is said to be 11 miles long and 600 pounds. But in addition to the blockbuster IMAX release is something that hasn’t been a showstopper in ages: a PDA.

And you can’t discuss personal digital assistants (PDAs) without mentioning PalmPilots. The Palm computing devices were once the epitome of handheld technological organization. But Palm Computing, which endured a series of acquisitions before HP sunset the brand in 2011, made other devices besides PalmPilots. One of those is the Palm m130, which is apparently IMAX projectionists’ ideal controller for running 70 mm film.

As shown in IMAX’s TikTok video below, the 70 mm print for Oppenheimer is so large that they had to extend their film platter. That’s fascinating and all, but so is the emulated 2002 PDA apparently running things: