1. Inception won't be released in 3-D (so far).
Nolan is a self-proclaimed admirer of IMAX , having shot several sequences of
The Dark Knight in the format. However, Nolan told
Collider that, while he didn't use IMAX cameras to shoot
Inception, it
will get an IMAX release but likely won't go through the 3-D conversion process like
Clash of the Titans and the upcoming
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows did.
We didn't feel that we were going to be able to shoot in IMAX because of the size of the cameras because this film, given that it deals with a potentially surreal area, the nature of dreams and so forth, I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. Not be bound by the scale of those IMAX cameras, even though I love the format dearly. So we went to the next best thing which was 65mm. So we have the highest quality image of any film that's being made and that allows us to reformat the film for any distribution form that we'd like to put it in. We're definitely going to do an IMAX release.
3D I think is an interesting development in movies or the resurgence of 3D. It's something we're looking at and watching. There are certain limitations of shooting in 3D. You have to shoot on video, which I'm not a fan of. I like shooting on film. And so then you're looking at post-conversion processes which are moving forward in very exciting ways. So really, for me, production of a large scale film is all about recording the best, highest quality image possible so that you can then put it in any theatre in the best way possible. And 65mm film, IMAX film, VistaVision, 35mm, that's the way you do that.
2. The cast won't say anything.
Ellen Page, who plays one of DiCaprio's team, has
warned reporters in interviews "don't try and find out more," and
Cillian Murphy, who plays a target of DiCaprio's, would
barely say anything in a recent interview with IrishCentral.
I can say that in an age when we think we’re inured to surprises, it should shake things up a little bit. (Nolan) really is an amazing director.
Both Page and Murphy were more revealing when they spoke to The LA Times, if you can call what they said "revealing". Murphy described the movie as more realistic version of fantasy.
It's the fantasy world, but it's the one that the mind itself can create or fall into, so the audience can access it in a different way than these other movies where you go to another planet or something. It's the place the mind goes, and it's often very dark and always interesting.
Meanwhile Page compared the movie to literature.
There's a tangible realism even when it gets crazy, and somehow that makes the jeopardy feel more real. It's like reading a Haruki Murakami novel — it's fantasy, but instead of feeling like some strange surreal world it feels very honest. The emotional spine of the story is there too, which is the key to his movies. There's the big scale, but the sincerity isn't left behind. The story is complicated but never confusing.
3. Inception made no sense to Leonardo DiCaprio.
If Inception was "never confusing" to Page, she should have shared that with DiCaprio, who, despite having a copy of the script and being the movie's lead character, admitted that Inception didn't make any sense to him or the movie's cast and crew.
[Inception] is Chris delving into dream psychoanalysis and, at the same time, making a high-octane, surreal film that came from his mind. He wrote the entire thing, and it all made sense to him. It didn't make sense to many of us when we were doing it. We had to do a lot of detective work to figure out what the movie was about.
4. Tom Hardy fights with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Tom Hardy has admitted he enjoyed his time on the Inception set, even after being "plummeted through a floor." He also admitted that he gets to fight with DiCaprio, that is, in between takes.
He's a big MMA fan, so we've been kicking each other. Kicking and elbowing each other. He keeps bruising me. He gives me as good as he gets.
Whether DiCaprio and Hardy fight in the actual movie remains to be seen.
5. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gets beat-up in it.
When Nolan spoke with
The LA Times, he admitted that
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays an associate of DiCaprio in the movie,
took a beating in the making of
Inception, particularly in a sequence — shown briefly in the first trailer — where Gordon-Levitt had to learn to fight in a corridor that spun around in circles.
It was like some incredible torture device; we thrashed Joseph for weeks. But in the end we looked at the footage, and it looks unlike anything any of us has seen before. The rhythm of it is unique, and when you watch it, even if you know how it was done, it confuses your perceptions. It's unsettling in a wonderful way... we want an extraordinary thing that happens in an ordinary way. That's always been the goal.