Move over Natalie Portman — there’s a new “Swan” coming to movie theaters this November. The Paris Opera’s production of “ Swan Lake ” will come to movie theaters across the world on November 10 — but will screen in IMAX theaters November 8, because this is the first ballet ever filmed for IMAX. The goal is to bring audiences as close to the dancers as possible as they navigate the classic ballet (this production uses the Rudolf Nureyev choreography).
According to press notes, filming took four days, including two days without an audience, allowing the cameras to join the dancers onstage at the Paris Opera in an additional pas de deux. And for true balletomanes, this “Swan Lake” also uses next-generation IMAX precision sound. Directed by Isabelle Julien, the “Swan Lake” cast includes Sae Eun Park as Odette/Odile, Paul Marque as Prince Siegfried, Pablo Legasa as Rothbart, and Paris Opera Corps de Ballet.
Vello Pähn conducts the Paris Opera Orchestra. The film is produced by Pathé Live and Paris Opera, with distribution by Pathé Live. Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet and its iconic score have been used repeatedly in films, from utilizing it for the opening credits of Universal’s “Dracula” in 1931 (then again for “The Mummy” in 1932) to Barbra Streisand spoofing it as Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” and an adult Billy dancing in “Swan Lake” in “Billy Elliott.
” And it served as the framework for Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” .