Hollywood bets on virtual reality being next great computing platform
Veteran filmmaker Ivan Reitman is an unlikely torchbearer for VR as studios invest money and map out ways to best make use of the new medium
Recently in Los Angeles, Hollywood director Ivan Reitman was in the bowels of the Madame Tussauds wax museum talking up an unlikely passion.
“VR is remarkable. What it does is force you to bring yourself into the story,” Reitman says. “If you haven’t tried it, you just need 10 minutes with it to realise it’s an amazing experience.”
Reitman, the 69-year-old filmmaker behind such comedies as Twins and Dave, was not the most likely evangelist for the much hyped new medium. But thanks to Sony’s Ghostbusters: Dimension, a tie-in to the currently running action-comedy film and a new participatory VR experience he was helping launch, Reitman has become a convert – a symbol of a traditional entertainment business dipping its toe in new waters.
For several years, major studios and media companies have largely stood on the sidelines of VR, allowing tech giants such as Facebook-owned Oculus and Samsung to take the lead in the potentially groundbreaking medium. But mainstream Hollywood players are starting to embrace the technology, making a flurry of investments, hires and content deals.
In the past six weeks, the venture arms of entertainment players including Comcast, Fox and talent agency WME have poured at least US$43 million into start-up ventures, setting off a slow-motion scramble for the right VR play. Sony Pictures recently made history when it named Jake Zim the first VR tsar at a major studio.