High Tech - HDR by Barco : Disney, Lucasfilm and Pixar choose the premium cinema format for The Devil Wears Prada 2, The Mandalorian and Grogu and Toy Story 5

By Mulder, 12 march 2026

Barco has officially confirmed that three of The Walt Disney Studios’ most anticipated 2026 releases will be presented in HDR by Barco, the premium high-dynamic-range laser projection format developed by the Belgian technology company. The announcement, made on March 12, 2026, reinforces the growing presence of HDR exhibition in theatrical distribution and confirms that The Devil Wears Prada 2, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, and Toy Story 5 will all benefit from the format during their theatrical runs this spring. The decision is not insignificant, as Disney has increasingly positioned high-end theatrical presentation as part of its strategy to differentiate the cinema experience from streaming, and insiders in exhibition circles have been hinting for months that several major 2026 titles were being mastered with expanded dynamic range specifically in mind. Seeing these three productions confirmed together strongly suggests that HDR by Barco is becoming one of the preferred premium formats alongside IMAX and Dolby Cinema for selected releases requiring strong visual contrast, complex lighting, or highly detailed digital imagery.

The first film on the schedule, The Devil Wears Prada 2, produced by 20th Century Studios, is set for release on May 1, 2026, and marks the long-awaited return of the characters played by Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci, nearly twenty years after the original 2006 film became a cultural phenomenon. Directed again by David Frankel from a screenplay by Aline Brosh McKenna, the sequel is produced by Wendy Finerman, with Michael Bederman, Karen Rosenfelt, and Aline Brosh McKenna serving as executive producers. The story once again takes place in New York City, returning to the world of Runway Magazine, and early industry notes indicate that the production features a highly stylized visual approach emphasizing fashion textures, reflective surfaces, and strong color contrast — exactly the kind of imagery that benefits from HDR projection. In conversations with projection specialists at recent trade events, several technicians mentioned that fashion-driven films with glossy cinematography are particularly well suited for HDR because highlights, fabrics, and skin tones gain noticeably more depth compared to standard digital projection, which may explain why Disney opted to include the film in the HDR by Barco lineup despite it not being a visual-effects spectacle.

The second title, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, arrives in theaters May 22, 2026, and represents the first theatrical continuation of the Disney+ series created by Jon Favreau. The film is directed by Jon Favreau and produced by Jon Favreau, Kathleen Kennedy, Dave Filoni, and Ian Bryce, with music by Ludwig Göransson, who previously won the Academy Award for his work on the franchise. The cast includes Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, alongside Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White, and the story takes place after the fall of the Empire, with scattered Imperial warlords threatening the fragile New Republic. From a technical standpoint, the Star Wars universe has been one of the most consistent adopters of advanced cinema formats, from IMAX to Dolby Vision mastering, and several sources within the exhibition industry have indicated that Lucasfilm has been testing high-brightness HDR workflows for large-scale digital environments for several years. Because the film mixes virtual production, LED volume photography, and heavy visual effects, HDR by Barco’s ability to produce highlights more than six times brighter than standard projection while preserving shadow detail is expected to make a visible difference, particularly in space sequences and night-time scenes, where traditional projection often loses contrast.

The third film confirmed for the format is Toy Story 5, scheduled for June 19, 2026, from Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, and directed by Academy Award winner Andrew Stanton, co-directed by Kenna Harris, and produced by Lindsey Collins, with music once again composed by Randy Newman, returning for his fifth film in the series. The story brings back the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack, while introducing a new character named Lilypad, voiced by Greta Lee, described as a tablet device whose presence challenges the toys’ place in a world increasingly dominated by technology. Animation is particularly suited for HDR presentation because color grading can be controlled with extreme precision, and Pixar has been experimenting with expanded color gamuts and higher brightness levels since the late 2010s. Several projection engineers have noted that animated films often show the most dramatic improvement in HDR because saturated colors, glowing light sources, and deep shadows can all be pushed further without the limitations imposed by live-action photography, making Toy Story 5 a logical candidate for the format.

These three films follow previous HDR by Barco collaborations with Disney, including Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash in 2025, as well as the recent release Send Help, and they join a broader 2026 slate designed to demonstrate the flexibility of the technology across different genres. According to Barco, the system is based on its patented Lightsteering technology, which redistributes light dynamically across the screen to achieve significantly higher brightness in highlights while maintaining detail in darker areas, producing a wider color range and stronger contrast than conventional digital cinema projection. Unlike some premium formats that require completely separate auditoriums, HDR by Barco can be installed in standard laser-equipped theaters, which has helped the company expand its presence worldwide. The company, headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, reported sales of 947 million euros in 2024 and employs more than 3,000 people, whom it calls “visioneers,” a term often used in its official communications to describe its focus on innovation in visualization technology.

From a broader industry perspective, the growing use of HDR in theatrical releases reflects a shift that many cinema professionals have been predicting for years. As home televisions have adopted HDR as a standard feature, studios and exhibitors have been looking for ways to keep theatrical presentation ahead in terms of image quality. Premium formats such as IMAX, Dolby Cinema, ScreenX, and now HDR by Barco have become essential tools in that strategy, and the fact that three major Disney titles across three different divisions — 20th Century Studios, Lucasfilm Ltd., and Pixar Animation Studios — are all being released in the format within two months suggests a coordinated push rather than isolated experiments. For moviegoers, this means that the spring and early summer of 2026 could become one of the most visually impressive theatrical periods in recent years, with filmmakers clearly embracing the expanded creative possibilities offered by high-dynamic-range projection, and exhibitors hoping that the promise of a brighter, sharper, and more immersive image will once again remind audiences why some films are meant to be seen on the big screen.

(Source : press release)