Playing older movies in movie theaters is all the rage. The concept just got a serious upgrade at Sphere in Las Vegas.
To diversify its lucrative, non-musical offerings, the massive globe-like arena commissioned a 100-million-dollar reconstruction of the 1939 classic The Wizard of Oz. The new version allows it to play on the 160-thousand square-foot interior screen.
The experience — complete with 4-D effects and lots of new AI technology — opened August 29.
In a recent interview, Sphere Entertainment CEO/executive chairman James Dolan said adapting Oz for Sphere, bells and all, cost his company nearly $100 million — which he says was "worth it."
Tickets for a recent Thursday afternoon screening ranged from $109 to $349 — an increase from the average prices for the venue's first cinematic offering, Darren Aronofsky's Postcards From Earth.
So will a Sphere-ized Oz be worth those ticket prices to audiences? That depends on what they're seeking out of their experience.
Loyalists to the original movie have already decried the reconstructed adaptation, where faces have been altered (sometimes crudely), focal points have been shifted, the soundtrack has been rerecorded, and backgrounds and settings have been blown up. A particular point of contention has been the running time, cut from 102 minutes to about 75, mostly to accommodate more daily screenings. The cinephile experience, this is not.
However, those looking to capitalize on the Sphere's engulfing, hi-resolution screen and its interactive special effects will find plenty to marvel at. Particular set pieces like Munchkinland and the Emerald City pop and surround the seated area. The program's incorporation of notable objects and characters as things that are now both onscreen and off — as well as a showstopping recreation of a tornado — beg comparisons to Disney theme-park attractions.
Logistically, ticketholders should arrive early, as an in-person show featuring Oz characters in the venue's Atrium precedes the film presentation. Also: Late seating to the screening isn't permitted.
Mike Prevatt, producer, Nevada Public Radio
