{"id":228402,"date":"2024-06-05T09:17:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T09:17:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/05\/two-top-secret-sphere-film-projects-in-the-works-u2-wizard-of-oz\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:17:50","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:17:50","slug":"two-top-secret-sphere-film-projects-in-the-works-u2-wizard-of-oz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/05\/two-top-secret-sphere-film-projects-in-the-works-u2-wizard-of-oz\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Top Secret Sphere Film Projects in the Works: U2, “Wizard of Oz”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n \"Scott <\/a>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The scoop just oozes out of us like chocolate from a box of See\u2019s you accidentally left in your car for two minutes on a 300-degree day in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

The Sphere at Venetian is working on two new, top secret (until we wrote that headline and the next paragraph, anyway) movies for the eye-popping Las Vegas entertainment venue and attraction.<\/p>\n

One of the 60-minute films will feature U2, the band whose residency helped put The Sphere on the map. The other film is being made in collaboration with Warner Bros. studio and will be an offshoot of the timeless classic, \u201cThe Wizard of Oz.\u201d Perhaps you\u2019ve heard of it.<\/p>\n

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Dear lawyers, they\u2019re red shoes. Red, not ruby. And they aren\u2019t slippers. They\u2019re pumps or whatever. Go chase an ambulance or whatever. We are above the law.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sphere\u2019s current film, \u201cPostcard From Earth,\u201d is slaying, as our fellow kids say. Translated into old, ticket sales are boffo, despite being around $100 on the low end.<\/p>\n

Anyway, Sphere knows where its bread is buttered, so it\u2019s making more films to augment its offerings and spur repeat business.<\/p>\n

A U2 experience seems a perfect fit, as the band\u2019s residency has been well-received, and we trust the band and Madison Square Gardens (MSG, owners of Sphere) have been capturing their performances for future use. This, it seems, was one of the future uses.<\/p>\n

Oh, technically, The Sphere is owned by Sphere Entertainment Co. Madison Square Gardens Entertainment spun off<\/a> Sphere Entertainment Co. because they wanted to insulate MSG from the financial risk posed by the massive cost of construction of The Sphere. The Sphere was originally supposed to cost a whopping $1.2 billion. Ultimately, it cost a whoppinger $2.3 billion. What\u2019s a billion clams between friends?<\/p>\n

We imagine the U2 show won\u2019t be a straight concert film, but will integrate performance footage as well as original graphics suited to showcase the uniqueness of the Sphere. You know, how it slaps. Do we need to teach you everything? It\u2019s like \u201cfly,\u201d except people haven\u2019t used \u201cfly\u201d for three decades or around the time Bono turned middle aged.<\/p>\n

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Imagine a Sphere movie about a U2 residency at The Sphere. The \u201cInception\u201d of Las Vegas experiences.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As mentioned, both of the new films will run about 60 minutes. \u201cPostcards From Earth\u201d is about 50 minutes long. Keeping the films short means additional shows each day when compared to a typical theatrical film (two hours and 20 minutes on average, \u201cDune 2\u201d was three hours), conducive to optimizing revenue.<\/p>\n

U2 was in Las Vegas on June 3, 2024, to confer with the Sphere and its creative team about the project, then the band was off to Burbank, California. Burbank is the home of MSG Sphere Studios<\/a>, a facility used to develop content ultimately presented in The Sphere at Venetian. There\u2019s even a baby Sphere. It\u2019s adorable. Here\u2019s a look inside, despite reams of NDAs visitors have to sign.<\/p>\n

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Rare peek at the Sphere model in Burbank. What happens here is being tested there first. Working on a partnership with NASA to show launches in our MSG Sphere, which sounds epic. pic.twitter.com\/omMbvsCGyH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Vital Vegas (@VitalVegas) August 4, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As these projects haven\u2019t been announced yet, details are few. We\u2019re basically just sharing this scoop so Johnny Kleptometes at the Las Vegas Review-Journal knows who his daddy is.<\/p>\n

As for the other film-slash-experience, fans of classic cinema should be over the rainbow at the news \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d could get the Sphere treatment.<\/p>\n

We trust there will be a twist, and the original film will serve as a springboard for the wizards at the Sphere to do what they do. Blow minds. That\u2019s in the job description. The way we\u2019ve heard it described is a \u201cnew\u201d take on the original film, but is not intended to \u201ccompete\u201d with it. As if anything could, really. That\u2019s some big red shoes to fill.<\/p>\n

While \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d was released nearly a century ago (no really, it was 1939), there are legions of fans of this film, and it would be awesome if Sphere figured out a way to make the movie relevant to new generations of fans.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s this moment in \u201cThe Wizard of Oz\u201d where the black-and-white movie (sepia, technically) becomes vibrant Technicolor. When the film was originally shown, people\u2019s heads exploded. It took theater cleaning personnel weeks to clean up the mess.<\/p>\n

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