It turns out acclaimed actor and director Jon Favreau, whose recent credits include The Avengers and Iron Man, is really into VR.
Answering questions on a reddit AMA, Favreau was asked what he thought of virtual reality – it turns out a lot. “There is tremendous potential in VR,” he says, a potential he realized after experiencing WEVR’s The Blu during the production of Disney’s The Jungle Book. In fact, he was so impressed by it that he is now working with WEVR on an unannounced project – but that’s not all.
In addition to the project with WEVR, Favreau also helped work on a pair of experiences for The Jungle Book with the help of Bill Murray, Christopher Walken and Scarlett Johannson.
“As far as The Jungle Book is concerned there are two experiences that we created. I’m actually unveiling one tonight at Samsung 837 in New York. It’s called “The Cold Lairs” and features the characters played by Bill Murray and Christopher Walken. WETA did the rendering. It’s pretty cool and will be available on GearVR.
The other VR experience is for the Oculus and Vive. It’s called “Kaa’s Jungle” and features Scarlett Johansson. The work was done by Tangerine. There is an in theatre experience available now”
“The Cold Lairs,” is a minute and a half long 3D 360 video that takes you King Louie’s (voiced by Christopher Walken) lair, and includes a brief appearance by Bill Murray’s character, Baloo. Cold Lairs is available on the GearVR now in MilkVR or online through your browser. “Kaa’s Jungle” will be arriving at select theaters across twelve cities in the US.
As Hollywood’s love affair with VR continues, Favreau is one of many stars who are getting involved. Award winning director Robert Stromberg, for example, recently started the Virtual Reality Company in Los Angeles. The high powered VR content creation studio has worked with Ridley Scott and is currently working on a project that is “solely for VR” with Steven Spielberg, who also sits on the company’s board of advisors.
As the medium continues its push into the consumer world, we should only expect the influx of star power to continue and hopefully begin to turn the tide from tie ins to original content.
