By Gavin Boyle
The Las Vegas Sphere will give movie fans a next-level viewing experience with an expanded cut of THE WIZARD OF OZ that features AI add-ins and a 4D experience.
“It’s pushing the visual medium,” said Jane Rosenthal, a producer on the new movie. “It’s pushing the exhibition of shows and concerts in a way that’s singular, and it’s exhilarating.”
The enhanced movie, however, has not come without criticism as shots have been expanded to fill the massive theater using AI. The team working on the movie poured over sketches and behind the scenes footage from the original movie to decide how to fill in the extra space, many times adding in characters that are not present in the original.
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“We had to reimagine the cinematography, we had to reimagine the editing, and we had to do all of this without changing the experience,” said Ben Grossmann, who oversaw the enhanced version’s visual effects. “Because if you touch anything about this sacred piece of cinema, you’re toast!”
The use of AI in the entertainment industry remains a hot button issue, causing the movie to draw criticism before it has even debuted. Those who support the project view it as the best showcase of how AI can enhance the industry to date, while its critics maintain that AI will ruin the art of moviemaking.
“Hollywood embraces new technology, and everyone can’t wait to be the second one to use it,” explained Buzz Hays, a filmmaker who leads Google Cloud’s entertainment industry solutions group. “What THE WIZARD OF OZ is doing for us is giving that first opportunity where people go, ‘Oh my God, this is not at all what I thought I was going to be.’”
Whether this experiment will pay off or not, though, remains to be seen.
While Warner Bros. Discovery gave the green light for this use of the tech, other companies have not been so bold. Disney, for example, had a golden opportunity to introduce AI into its workflow during the creation of TRON: ARES when filmmakers proposed the introduction of a character fully written by AI who would serve as one of the main character’s sidekicks.
The idea, however, was eventually shot down after executives expressed their concerns over the backlash a character like this could evoke. TRON: ARES, however, is one story where AI actually makes sense because the in-universe characters are working with that technology. Though Disney claims to be committed to using AI in the future, it is clear it is still too worried to make the actual jump.
The launch of THE WIZARD OF OZ at the Sphere will prove whether Disney’s abstinence was a smart decision or if the company lost out on a golden opportunity to introduce its audience to this new technology. It will not be long until we find out, as THE WIZARD OF OZ at the Sphere opens on Aug. 28.
Read Next: Disney Almost Included AI-Written Character in Upcoming TRON Movie
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