Trailer and Release Date Revealed as Nolan’s ‘The Prestige’ Gets a Big-Screen Return in IMAX

Christopher Nolan has built a career on films that reward a second look, and few of them reward it as much as his story of two rival magicians. ‘The Prestige‘ arrived in theaters on October 20, 2006, and it has been gaining admirers ever since. It was a modest commercial success on release but became a hit on home video, and today it holds a 77% critics score and a 92% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The film follows Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), two stage magicians in Victorian London whose partnership collapses after a trick goes terribly wrong. Their obsession with creating the greatest illusion escalates into sabotage and violence. Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Andy Serkis, Piper Perabo and David Bowie, in a memorable turn as Nikola Tesla, round out the cast.

Now, exactly 20 years after its original release date, Disney has delivered a gift for fans. The studio has released the first trailer for the re-release and confirmed that the film returns to theaters on January 29, 2027, with its first-ever 70mm and IMAX presentations.

First trailer for the first-ever 70mm film and IMAX release of Christopher Nolan’s ‘THE PRESTIGE’. In theaters on January 29. https://t.co/59FBpQvEj6

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 20, 2026

The trailer opens on a quiet image of a hand reaching toward a birdcage, a fitting tease for a film about misdirection. It is a brief look rather than a full retelling, and it leans on atmosphere to remind viewers what’s coming.

The film will play in 70mm and IMAX alongside the traditional 35mm and digital 2D formats, so audiences without access to the biggest screens can still catch it. Anyone who can’t wait until January can also stream it, as it is currently available on 4K Ultra HD through Amazon.

The January 29 date is a change from earlier reporting. When the re-release was first discussed in July, Nolan had mentioned a January 21, 2027 date, and he explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the film would be blown up to 70mm for its 20th anniversary. The new date, announced alongside the trailer, replaces that earlier target.

Nolan has also been clear about why the format matters. He explained that cinematographer Wally Pfister shot the film anamorphically on 35mm, and he praised both Pfister’s photography and Nathan Crowley’s production design. After screening a 35mm print to check it, he said he expects the film to look beautiful blown up to 70mm, and he praised Bale’s performance as one of his most underrated.

The timing is no accident. Nolan recently made history with ‘The Odyssey,’ which became the first film shot entirely on 70mm IMAX film, and the success of that format has made big-screen presentations a major draw. Bringing one of his earlier works to the same screens lets audiences see a film they know in an entirely new way.

It also gives ‘The Prestige’ a chance at the theatrical life it arguably deserved the first time. The film earned about $109 million worldwide on a $40 million budget and received Academy Award nominations for cinematography and art direction. For a story that has been dissected for two decades, a new presentation on giant screens feels like the right kind of encore.

The movie’s famous tagline asks viewers whether they are watching closely, and that’s the real appeal of this release. It’s a thriller structured like a magic trick, with a pledge, a turn and a prestige, and its twists land differently once you know how they work.

If you’ve never seen the film on a big screen, January offers a rare chance. And if you have, the temptation to see Angier and Borden’s rivalry in a larger format is hard to resist. After all, the best tricks are the ones you want to see again.

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