Doug Liman Teams with Google for 'Immersive Spatial Film' That Lets You Enter the Story — GeekTyrant
Google recently launched 100 Zeros, a new content initiative in partnership with Range Media Partners, aimed at pushing storytelling into uncharted territory, and one of the first people they've brought along for the ride? Filmmaker Doug Liman, the guy behind Edge of Tomorrow , The Bourne Identity , and, most recently, Road House .
Liman is developing what Google is calling an 'immersive spatial film', and while speaking at a fireside chat during Cannes, Neil Parris, Google's Head of Filmmaker Partnerships, described the project as 'an original 180° immersive short film.'
It'll premiere on Asteroid, Google's upcoming XR app, and it sounds like something between a movie, a game, and a live conversation. Parris explained:
'The film, a high-stakes action thriller, is about a group of strangers who risk it all by taking an old rocket to mine a near-earth asteroid for a chance at unimaginable wealth.
'After the film, the audience enters the story when they receive a call from one of the characters who was left behind on the asteroid. The conversation between the AI-powered character and the player drives the extension of the story beyond the linear film.'
So, it's not just sit-and-watch, you also talk to the story. The film becomes a kind of launching pad (literally and figuratively), and what happens after depends on how you interact with the characters.
Think immersive action mixed with AI-powered narrative design. It's set to drop later this year, timed with the launch of Project Moohan, the XR headset built by Google and Samsung.
This is all part of a larger movement by Google to back creators willing to experiment with new tools, and maybe even rethink what storytelling looks like. Parris said:
'We've started a production vehicle called 100 Zeros in partnership with Range, which is really meant to help Google meet filmmakers where they are. And is focused on putting amazing stories into the world and enabling them across multiple ways.'
The session also featured Range co-founder Peter Micelli and filmmaker Sean Douglas, both part of a new program called AI On Screen, which commissions short films exploring the evolving relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence. Micelli said:
'When we started the programme, the number one intent for Range and Google was to get artists to participate and start a dialogue.'
What that dialogue is shaping into is still evolving, but the goal is to push boundaries, embrace change, and reimagine the future of how stories are told and experienced. Micelli added:
'Profound change is coming. At Range, we view it as a very exciting change. You know, they said broadcast networks were going to die in 2020, streaming was going to kill everything.
'You constantly hear these patterns, and behind those patterns is a shift in technology that forces change.'
And yet, the core of it all stays the same.
'The thing that doesn't shift is human beings wanting to be around storytelling. It is fundamental for us all. We care deeply about telling stories. How those stories get to you is what will always change.'
With Liman's asteroid thriller and an AI character waiting to call you afterward, it looks like the next shift has already begun.
Source: Deadline
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