When the MSG Sphere opens this fall in Las Vegas, content will include an immersive production dubbed Postcard From Earth, which, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is set to be directed by The Whale helmer Darren Aronofsky.
Madison Square Garden Entertainment didn’t confirm the participation of Aronofsky, whose film The Whale won two Oscars last month (best actor for star Brendan Fraser, as well as makeup and hairstyling), but has said that it would work with Hollywood directors to create content for its massive sphere-shaped entertainment venue, set to open this fall with a series of concerts from U2.
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Plans also call for hourlong programs dubbed Sphere Experiences, such as Postcard From Earth, to run multiple times a day at the venue. They will be made by directors working with in-house Sphere Studios to take advantage of the venue’s capabilities including its 160,000-square-foot, 16K-by-16K wraparound LED display, custom spatial audio system, and 4D capabilities enabled through haptic seats and environmental effects.
Construction costs for the venue have ballooned during the course of planning. “Our construction cost estimate for MSG Sphere remains $2.175 billion, while project to-date construction costs through December 31st were approximately $2 billion,” stated CFO David Byrnes on a Feb. 9 earnings call.
According to the April 10 announcement, Postcard From Earth will offer “a unique perspective on the magnificent beauty of life on Earth.” Last year during a panel in the NAB Show, reps said Sphere Studios planned to put its custom camera system on the International Space Station, though this was not mentioned by MSG Entertainment in today’s announcement.
Tickets for Postcard go on sale on Wednesday, starting at $49.
Said MSG Entertainment executive chairman and CEO James L. Dolan in a statement released Tuesday: “Sphere provides a new medium for directors, artists and brands to create experiences that cannot be seen or told anywhere else, and Sphere Experiences are just one of the ways we will use the venue’s technologies to engage the senses and transport audiences to places both real and imagined. Postcard From Earth will set a new bar for multi-sensory storytelling possibilities, and we look forward to having audiences experience it at Sphere this fall.”
