We see camera projects pop up on the LEGO Ideas website fairly regularly. Every few months, there’s another design that somebody has created. Usually, they’re photography cameras. This time, though, it’s something a little bigger.
This project is based on the legendary IMAX MSM 9802 camera. It was used to shoot films like The Dark Knight, Interstellar and Oppenheimer. This one doesn’t shoot movies, though. It’s a 2,014-piece LEGO kit.
The LEGO IMAX MSM 9802 sticks pretty faithfully to the design of the original camera. The IMAX MSM 9802 was the model of camera famously destroyed by Christopher Nolan during production of The Dark Knight.
At the time, there were only a handful of them in the entire world. And there was one fewer after Nolan got his hands on them. He’s pretty obsessive when it comes to shooting intense scenes on impractical cameras. That wasn’t the only IMAX camera he destroyed.
The LEGO version of the IMAX MSM 9802 is going to be even more delicate than the real thing. Of course, I don’t think we’ll see Christopher Nolan putting one of these through its paces. So, sitting on a shelf, it should be pretty safe.
It was designed by KolaHasAwoken and posted to the LEGO Ideas website on February 23rd, 2024. It currently has 242 supporters but it still needs a lot more before LEGO chooses to turn it into an actual kit. But, it’s getting some support off-site, too. Even IMAX themselves posted about the project to X.
It’s a very interesting reproduction. And, honestly, it’s probably a kit I’d want more than any of the photography camera LEGO kits I’ve seen posted on the LEGO Ideas website. Even if it’s likely to be much more expensive and complex to build.
It even comes with little characters – perhaps Christopher Nolan and Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer.
With 2,014 pieces in the build, this isn’t going to be a project you’ll do in an evening. Perhaps not even in an entire weekend. But it would certainly be a fun one for either filmmaking enthusiasts or cinephiles who love IMAX movies.
Whether or not it will actually become a reality, though, depends on how many supporters the project receives on the LEGO Ideas website. So, if you want the chance of having one, head on over and support the project yourself. Then get all of your friends to support it, too!
