FoxNext, a newly created division of 21st Century Fox has announced a partnership with virtual reality (VR) content and distribution specialist Within. This will see a slate of new immersive content including a Planet of the Apes VR experience.
Planet of the Apes will be the first project the partnership put into production, directed and produced by Within Founder and CEO Chris Milk. It’ll utilise AI to deliver a shared social experience that will be available on the Within app and across virtual and augmented reality (AR) platforms.
“Virtual reality is the next generation of entertainment and Planet of the Apes provides the perfect canvas to create a new kind of filmmaking experience that will further immerse fans into the franchise,” said Salil Mehta, President, FoxNext. “In partnership with visionary filmmakers like Chris, and companies like Within, Fox will continue to push the envelope to create immersive experiences that bring audiences into the action like never before.”
Another project Within and FoxNext are working on is original VR film I Remember You (working title) together with Annapurna Pictures. Annapurna Pictures Founder Megan Ellison will co-produce the film, alongside Milk who’ll direct, and award-winning director Spike Jonze who helped develop the project. Since the launch of its VR division in 2015, Annapurna’s VR titles have included Evolution of Verse, The Click Effect, and the upcoming Life of Us, set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
“VR provides a unique opportunity to expose and explore the boundaries of technology and personal expression,” said Milk, “We’re confident that the opportunities of bringing narrative, plot-driven VR experiences to the mainstream outweigh the challenges. These two projects couldn’t be any more different in how we’re building them, or the end result. That’s what’s exciting about this new medium though, there is no one right answer.”
The FoxNext and Within VR Experience for Planet of the Apes is independent of the previously announced collaboration between Fox and Imaginati Studios.
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