What Movies Would Be Awesome in VR?

“Go to California they said. It’ll be fun they said.”

As I write this my 3-year-old daughter eats Cape Cod potato chips while passively watching The Neverending Story. It’s a live-action peice so Poppy will lose interest completely in 3… 2… annnnnnnnnnd she’s done. I put on Coraline and I can’t help but think about how stories will change within the next decade until there is a point that Poppy won’t see enough value to watch traditional films.

TOTALLY made for VR… jeez.

My mind runs nude and slathered in joy through the collagen fields of Hollywood as I think of the intellectual properties that my family loves. My heart races as I think of the movies that have the ability to transcend the barriers of traditional media to become something more. So many things work. So many things fit. I could write for days…

but I don’t…

I put the following list together for fun and I would love if you also added your thoughts (it is Medium, after all). Have fun with me. Agree, disagree and add to it. As I blasted this out I tried to hit multiple genres. I have to admit my bias towards animation, space and horror movies because they don’t have to adhere to such annoyances as physics and horizons.

Soooo… here goes:

• Mary Poppins — Knowing that old Uncle Walt himself was against some of the green screen work where live action was mixed with animation has always amazed me. Disney was wrong on this one and the mix of these components and the technical wizardry that made this fantasy work in 1964 would make it boss AF in 2018 or 19.

Burt’s like… whoa man.

• The Wizard of Oz — I cannot think of how we will transition to VR without thinking of the way that Wizard of Oz transitioned us into technicolor and fantasy storytelling.
• The Little Mermaid — Under the sea we have no gravity. The songs and orchestra could surround is in a vibrant color palette bring us to whole new worlds damnit Disney.
• The Neverending Story — “Bastian” is a boring kid with a dumb name but being pulled along as him into the adventures of Atreyu as they ride luck dragons, get through The Fire Swamp and battle The Nothing… well that’s not boring or dumb. It would work. Maybe we jump into different chapters? There’s a lot we can do here. I’ll play the rock dude if anybody wants to be Atreyu.
• Die Hard — Call me nuts (the voices do) but I want to be trapped in a vent with a lighter and a gun in Nakatomi Plaza. The original Die Hard gives the constraints of time and space while giving heavy servings of explosions. There can be an interactive story on every floor. This example seems more movie than game… but maybe that’s my fault on this one.
• Heat — As a modernist crime film it’s very weighted with strong characters. If I were to rework this to VR I would craft a story that would have the same outcome no matter what the characters do and give the audience character choices. Out of this entire list Heat would be the most dependent upon character and story… that’s damn exciting though.
• The Iron Giant — scale…SCle…SCALE!!! It would be worth it to me just to sit in the The Iron Giant’s hand. As a movie that’s meant to make a young powerless boy feel powerful I think that VR would be an amazing way to convey it.
• Coraline — My God, this is probably my number 1 draft pick if I were to invest in a VR movie. Stop-animation 3D with multiple dimensions… I mean, it’s almost like they were cheating. In fact, this movie almost seems to be reverse adapted FROM a VR screenplay. Heck, maybe we’re guided by the cat into these alternate dimensions? Coraline could be an interactive cinematic mystery (yeah, I know I’m brilliant Jessica Brillhart) much like Maniac Mansion or Day of The Tentacle was on the PC and NES.

Not many men look cool riding a motorcycle in heals. I know from experience.

• Purple Rain — If you don’t want to walk around in Prince’s high heels for a bit there’s definitely something wrong with you and we shouldn’t be friends. Yes, Prince is dead but this is an example of a rock musical drama film that I can’t come up with a replacement for. With deep story, attachment to central character and amazing concert sequences it sparks the imagination of what could be done in a music genre.
• Harold and Kumar — This list is WAY too light on the stoner genre but I can’t think of a better franchise for StonerVR (It’ll be a thing. Start the hashtag now if you remember ya damn pothead). Riding a cheetah, a hang-glider and the epic quest of getting to White Castle without Neil Patrick Harris accidentally killing you while high on multiple drugs.
• GhostBusters — “Gamified Experiential Horror Comedy.” I totally just sold myself. This IP has driving, shooting, story, scale… and I want it to happen so bad if only for the exploding Sta-Puft Marshmallow Man.
• A Nightmare Before Christmas — If VR was a thing then Tim Burton would have had Jack and Oogie Boogie dancing directly on our brainpans. His eye, quirkiness and ability to design/transform worlds make him one of my favorite directors to think about in VR. I love you Tim Burton and want to have your babies.
• The Sixth Sense — Yoooooo… what if you found out that you were dead? A version of the movie in which there’s a mystery aspect would be completely amazing.
• Kill Bill — This list would suck without Taratino. The cartoon-chinned boy genius of the 90’s would have the ability to make a brilliant and over-the-top brutality-filled wire-ballet that just might have a little too much foot fetish in it… but we let him get away with those idiosyncracies.

Not the new Robocop. That one sucked. This Robocop… and Ed-209.

• Robocop — I imagine an unapologetically late 80’s/early 90’s cocaine explosion ridden titanium masterpiece. It’s a shooter game, a resurrection film and an homage to a time when violence in film was taken by studios as a personal challenge. Can we die as Murphy and come back as Robocop? I’ve wanted this my whole life. Bring it!
• Titanic — We’ve all dreamt of Dicaprio painting us nude (you can lie to me but don’t lie to yourself). At the moment, I’ve only been able to get one of the interns to do a Tiltbrush nude of me. It wasn’t very good and he left shortly after. I’m sure it was unrelated.
• Rear Window — Oh Hitchcock, you brilliant egg-shaped fella… I want your mind and not your cholesterol. If Jimmy Stewart could teleport to the different apartments he was creeping on and if the viewer could jump into different roles. There’s just so much there for interactive cinema and it makes my creative juices all flow-ey.

#NotPervy

I’ll add ideas to the following list and I invite you to do the same outside in the comments. I just know me. I’ll never finish this and have the joy of the conversations started by this sooooooo…

I don’t care that it’s unfinished.

• It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, World (suggested by mark-john clifford)
• Blade Runner (suggested by Rob Crasco @RoblemVR)
• My Dinner With Andre (suggested by @stevecavers)
• Stand By Me
• Nightmare on Elm Street
• Wreck-it Ralph
• Jurassic Park
• Iron Man
• The Jungle Book
• Star Wars
• Alien
• Total Recall
• Finding Nemo
• The Last Starfighter
• Back to the Future
• Jaws
• Avatar
• Final Destination
• Clash of the Titans

In the end, there will be brilliance. Entertainment will be transformed. Minds will be blown. Stars will be made…

We’re living in a very special time my dear friends and the more people that we can get to recognize that the better off the world will be. While my honest opinion is that there will be an amazing release that will bring a more mass appeal to Augmented, Mixed and Virtual Reality we have to keep in mind the following wise words by my friend, RoblemVR:

“Hollywood loves a reboot”

Be good to one another and have fun building and creating in this new world. It’s gonna be an awesome ride.