In a Los Angeles theater, a trench coat-wearing Neo bends backwards to dodge bullets that spiral over the viewer’s head, as the sound of gunfire erupts from everywhere.
This new immersive experience is designed to be a red pill moment that will get film fans off their couches at a time when the movie industry is desperate to bring back audiences.
Cosm, which has venues in Los Angeles and Dallas, is launching its dome-style screen and 3D sets in June with a “shared reality” version of “The Matrix,” the cult 1999 film starring Keanu Reeves as a man who suddenly learns his world is a fiction.
“We believe the future will be more immersive and more experiential,” said Cosm president Jeb Terry at a recent preview screening.
“It’s trying to create an additive, a new experience, ideally non-cannibalistic, so that the industry can continue to thrive across all formats.”
Cinema audiences were already dwindling when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, shuttering theaters at a time when streaming was exploding.
With ever bigger and better TVs available for the home, the challenge for theater owners is to offer something that movie buffs cannot get in their living room.
Prestige projects like Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning” or Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning “Oppenheimer” increasingly opt for the huge screens and superior film quality of IMAX.
But Cosm and other projects like it want to go one step further, collaborating with designers who have worked with Cirque du Soleil to create an environment in which the viewer feels like they are inside the film.
