On paper, the concept of giving an artificial intelligence (AI) makeover to “The Wizard of Oz” seemed like a surefire hit at the orb-shaped Sphere in Las Vegas. And it just might, based on initial ticket sales.
Whether it paves the yellow brick road to adulation with purists is another matter. In its short life, “‘The Wizard of Oz at Sphere'” has come under steep criticism for “artistic butchery” of the 1939 movie classic, as one offended patron put it.
The idea was intriguing: Show what AI can do with a movie. Artificially generated images were added to scenes to make the original film, which is grainy, to fill the venue’s mammoth screen — a 16K, 160,000 square-foot field of LEDs that arcs over your head and extends to fill your peripheral vision.
This required the use of Google AI tools to deconstruct, reformat, and upres every shot of the movie.
If Dorothy, Toto, and their motley crew appear from the waist up in a shot, AI might be used to extrapolate the rest of their bodies by referencing how they look in other footage. A poppy field seemingly goes on for eternity in the new version. Characters who were off-camera in the original version because of limited technology in the 1930s now appear in the AI version. But what has raised the hackles of purists is the elimination of 30 minutes from the film, which was licensed for the project by Warner Bros.
To be fair, some of the augmented reality touches of the show, including an indoor twister propelled by 750-horsepower wind machines kicking up debris and haptic signals vibrating seats, as well as drone-powered flying monkeys, drew oohs and aahs, according to some reviews of the $80 million project. The film’s score was rerecorded with a live orchestra on the original soundstage at the former MGM lot in Los Angeles, and fed through 167,000 speakers.
“The key for us is to maintain the integrity of the original filmmakers’ intent,” producer Jane Rosenthal said in a TikTok video.
Sphere CEO James L. Dolan, who also owns Madison Square Garden and the New York Knicks, said if the audience for the AI-restored film, which the Library of Congress says is the most-viewed in history, resonates, it might bump concerts. U2, the Eagles, and others have played at the Sphere.
More movie classics might come to the Sphere if the reboot is a success.
“We are in active discussions with lots of IP holders who are interested,” Dolan said of the project, which debuted Thursday night and is scheduled to run through March at the 17,600-seat arena. More than 200,000 tickets have been sold, starting at more than $100 each.
Still, pushback has been just as severe, as moviegoers and cinephiles digest the idea of their favorite movie, play or book reinvented through AI tools and mixed-media technology.
“If a living director wants to play in this new realm, I’m all for it,” filmmaker Patrick Read Johnson posted on social-media platform X. “If it’s just a rights holder looking to expand their profits without any consult by the artists who actually made the film. No.”
