As more people step out of their pods and join the converted masses in the love of virtual reality, we’ve seen a number of filmmakers also pledge their interest in working in the medium. None quite have the name power of Steve Spielberg however, so the fact that he’s working on a new project that is described as “solely for VR,” is very exciting indeed.
The announcement wasn’t made by the man himself, but by a partner working with him — so it’s an open question as to whether Spielberg himself was pleased about the unveiling. But we are, because was now know he has something up his movie-making wizard sleeve.
In a Q&A session at Sundance, Robert Stromberg, the co-founder of Virtual Reality Company (VRC) and director of Maleficent, said that he and his company were working with a number of individuals on projects that are designed purely for virtual reality. One of those individuals happens to be Spielberg.
Although it was known that the Schindler’s List director was an adviser at the company, it had yet to be revealed that he was actively working in virtual reality. The rumor, of course, only ramped up by the likes of UploadVR, is that the upcoming film Ready Player One, for which Spielberg is director and producer, could have some VR elements.
VRC recently produced one of the better-reviewed VR demonstrations, letting viewers get a first-person perspective on a number of elements from the movie The Martian. It could theoretically do something similar with Ready Player One, especially since the film revolves around entering a virtual game world through a headset and accompanying hardware.
Of course the “solely for VR” comment would suggest that whatever content is being made, it might not be separately released as a traditional movie, so it could easily be something entirely new.
Either way, color us excited.
