Hugo Weaving may be best known for his roles as Agent Smith in The Matrix trilogy and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings films but now it seems he is to star in the first feature-length virtual reality (VR) movie.
Based on the Joseph Conrad novel The Secret Agent, the film will will be modern-day adaption of the 1907 novel exploring themes of fanaticism and terrorism. Titled Lone Wolf, Weaving will be playing a police minister who is involved in the conspiracy of a proposal to attack the Sydney Opera House. Weaving will be joined by Hotel Mumbai actress Tilda Cobham-Hervey with executive producer Lee Hubber overseeing the production of Lone Wolf while being directed by Jonathan Ogilvie.
The movie is planned to have a theatrical release in 2019 with a traditional 2D release alongside a full-length VR version. This will allow the viewers to become fully immersed within the story and action that unfolds but also gives Lone Wolf the right to claim the title of the world’s first VR feature movie. The VR effect is planned to be achieved by the production team using a cluster of lenses that will offer a 3D 200-degree viewing angle which will be accessible via smartphone-mounted headsets.
“This is an incredibly timely story. A film shot entirely as surveillance in objective and POV mode — the character of Stevie incessantly films everything on his phone — plays on our conflicted collective concerns regarding surveillance, i.e. the loss of personal privacy vs. the sense of security in having someone watch over us,” said Ogilvie.
The movie is set to enter production soon following the completion of funding for it’s $2 million budge. Though not many more details are available at this time it is interesting to see a feature-length film offering a VR option. As headsets continuing to improve in quality, comfort and battery life, the hardware to support the run time of a feature film is there. The question is more if viewers will want to spend that long in VR engaging in a 3D 200-degree viewing experience. Regardless, Lone Wolf is set to be an interesting release and will surely not be the last feature-length VR release.
VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on Lone Wolf in the future, so stay tuned for more.