Joe and Anthony Russo are directors on the rise. They are currently best known for their work helming Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier and this year’s must-see summer blockbuster Captain: America Civil War.
The Russo’s originally cut their teeth on cult-classic TV comedies like Arrested Development before successfully making the jump from the small to the silver screen. Now, the brothers are two of Hollywood’s hottest filmmakers and, in their opinion, the movie business would benefit greatly by embracing another on-the-rise commodity: virtual reality.
During an interview with Collider, the Russo brothers were asked if there was any particular technology that they could see going from niche to institution in the film industry. The question was barely out of the interviewers mouth before Joe Russo immediately put VR forward as a suggestion, calling it “pretty incredible” and “game changing”.
Russo explained that he believes VR will change how people understand movies going forward, perhaps moving away from the traditional two hour experience, possibly even making it a “distant memory”. He cited the possibilities that exist when a viewer choses his or her own path through a story, but noted that no one has quite figured out how to utilize it yet.
Now that Civil War has been released, the brothers focus is turning fully to Infinity War – the 2018 follow up to last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.
When asked if the two would ever consider utilizing VR filmmaking techniques or equipment as part of that production, Anthony responded by saying, “We have a lot of ideas that we’re circling for Infinity War right along those lines. Because the technology has really turned us on and we’ve been looking for opportunities to start using it more extensively.”
This won’t be the first time the Avengers have met VR; last year’sAvengers: Age of Ultron was supported by a brief 360 degree experience for the Gear VR. From the Russo’s comments, however, promotional tie-ins like this may be small potatoes compared to what they’re cooking up for the franchise’s future VR installments.
