Days after Jim Dolan earned a long-awaited chip with his New York Knicks, the billionaire mogul is ready to roll the dice on a big movie bet at his unique, circular-shaped venue, The Sphere.
The next film being reimagined in the 17,600-seat auditorium is a pilot for Jim Sharman’s iconic 1975 film. Rocky Horror Picture Showwhich became a staple of community shows and was adapted several times for Broadway. In the field, Rocky Horror It will explode sometime in 2027.
while Wizard of Oz The experiment cost about $100 million to bring the adaptation of Judy Garland’s 1939 film to Vegas audiences — including a re-creation of a tornado inside the venue — and it’s unclear whether Rocky Horror You will carry a similar budget. A Sphere rep declined to comment on the modification’s price. The project is being packaged in a deal with Primary Wave Music and 20th Century Studios.
“With Sphere Studios, we are building a slate of original experiences that push the boundaries of technology and storytelling for this new medium, while always keeping the audience at the center of the experience,” Dolan said while unveiling the project. “since Rocky Horror Picture Show Premiering in 1975, it redefined audience engagement and became a cultural phenomenon. With Sphere, we have the opportunity to take this spirit of indulgence to a whole new level.
Oz, which bowed on August 28 last year, has now grossed $400 million and sold 3 million tickets since its premiere. This represents an additional $30 million in sales since the company disclosed its earnings on May 5.
if geese It was a test case in the viability of adapting a classic film IP to an experimental setting, and it appears to have worked well financially. This title featured Hollywood-level work from the likes of producer Gene Rosenthal, visual effects expert Ben Grossman, and Oppenheimer Editor Jennifer Lammy. Creative team for Rocky Horror It has not been revealed yet.
For those comparing $400 million geese Taking the sales figure with blockbuster theatrical films, the rough calculations come out to about $133 per ticket, much more than, say, $12 to $15 for a typical movie ticket. It is worth noting that there is only one film and that is Universal and Illumination’s Super Mario Galaxy moviehas grossed more than $400 million domestically so far this year.
and geese It’s not going anywhere, if anything it might be more permanent in Sphere’s Vegas portfolio. “I think the biggest thing we’ve learned is that we can do multiple shows, and even different shows and concerts and features like Wizard of Oz “All on the same day the building can handle it, the market can handle it,” Dolan told analysts in May.
The Sphere, a long-term vision for Mongols (who fronts his own bands JD and Straight Shot), was sparked by concert experiences from the likes of U2, The Eagles, Dead & Company, the Backstreet Boys and Metallica. Phish, No Doubt, Kenney Chesney are among the names filling the venue this year.
On deck, Sphere Studio is developing an extreme sports movie From the edgeHe participated in directing it Free solo Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin helmers, as an original feature with a premiere date TBD.
Dolan has plans to bring the Sphere concept to other major cities (“We would like to move as quickly as we can to build multiple spheres,” he said.) And early this year, the company signed a deal to develop a smaller Sphere project in the Washington, D.C., metro area.
When asked about other potential adaptations and his conversations with the studio’s rights holders about intellectual property modifications, Dolan responded in his call with analysts in May, “The leverage is that we’re the only place doing it. So it’s not like someone else can take this product and put it in a big immersive environment like Sphere. So it’s really up to us as to which one we choose.”
