VR storytelling is just the latest in a series of revolutions in the way we tell tales. Doug Champion, however, isn’t forgetting where we came from with his new VR movie, disk1: The Epic of Gilgamesh.
The project was announced today at the VR on the Lot event in Hollywood. As the name implies, this is set to be a VR adaptation of The Epic of Gilgamesh, a poem inscribed on tablets dating back to around 2100 BC. It’s considered to be one of the oldest recorded examples of literature, telling the tale of King Gilgamesh, a demigod that goes in search of immortality.
Champion, a screenwriter, originally planned this as a traditional film, but is now turning into an immersive live action production with his studio, Visionary Artists. The multi-media group is a new entity born out of Stonelock Pictures.
Don’t expect this to be a strict translation of the original text, however. Champion gave Upload a brief outline for the project, which makes it sound quite different. “After a mechanical failure in the clockwork of reality causes time to physically explode, the universe reboots from an emergency backup,” it reads.
The film is said to have a budget of $120 million, so don’t expect this to be a quick two to three minute 360 video that you download for free on Gear VR. Champion told Upload that the piece will be a “volumetric, full 6DOF VR experience using a combination of light field and photogrammetry-based capture methods.” Currently, the team is searching for a camera system to film the project with. Judging by that description, it’s going to need a pretty advanced solution. Interested parties can reach out to the studio at vr@visionaryartists.org.
We don’t yet know what platforms Gilgamesh will come to and when it will be released. Champion promised that it will be “feature length”, however. According to the company, Visionary Artists producer Beni Atoori recently secured a line of credit of more than $100 million, which will go toward the new group, though is mostly separate to Gilgamesh‘s own budget with some “bleed over”.
It’s not the only VR adaptation of an ancient text we’ve heard about. Winking Media is also translating storied Chinese novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, into the HTC Vive as a new game codenamed Project Tres, which is shaping up well.
Visionary Artists will be at VR on the Lot today along with a number of Hollywood studios to discuss the latest in VR film.
