Latest news with #Cosm
Yahoo
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Cosm Sets ‘Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory' As Next 'Shared Reality' Film In Warner Bros. Deal
EXCLUSIVE: Cosm — the entertainment concern that melds old-school planetarium with state-of-the-art immersive technology in a new theatrical experience — will open Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory as its second so-called 'shared reality' presentation in a multi-picture deal with Warner Bros. Screenings of the iconic Gene Hackman-starring 1971 film start Nov. 21. They follow Cosm's successful June debut of The Matrix for its 25th anniversary with that run recently extended through August. More from Deadline Warner Bros. Acquires Chris Colfer's 'The Land Of Stories' For Film; Phil Johnston To Adapt Bestseller Warner Bros. Hires Sarah-Jane Wright As UK Head Of Physical Production 'Superman' Production Pumped $100 Million Into Georgia & Ohio As Man Of Steel Spread The Wealth Shared reality, in contrast to VR and AR, doesn't require headsets. Instead, it leverages Cosm's proprietary technology, including its 87-foot diameter 12k+ LED dome and full-dome filmmaking capabilities to play films likeWilly Wonka in its classic format while the environment around it evolves with dynamic visuals and playful effects. 'The newest cinematic Shared Reality experience will transport long-time fans and families into the wonder of the renowned Chocolate Factory and deliver an elevated, multisensory experience that pairs boundary-pushing immersive storytelling with sweet treat tastings,' the company said. Cosm, Warner Bros. and production and digital effects creative firms Little Cinema and MakeMake are collaborating on the series. Cosm VP of Business Development and Entertainment Alexis Scalice calls the upcoming Willy Wonka presentation 'an exciting evolution in cinematic family entertainment, blending nostalgia, innovation, and immersion to create a fan experience like no other.' She joined the company in January from Universal Live Entertainment Group, where she was VP of worldwide location-based entertainment. Cosm was founded by entrepreneur Jeb Terry, a former Fox executive and offensive lineman with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and San Francisco 49ers, by putting together companies including Evans & Sutherland, a leader in planetarium technology, Spitz, which creates content for domed theaters and classrooms, and tech companies LiveLikeVR and C360. Cosm opened venues in LA and Dallas in 2024 and has three more coming, Atlanta and Detroit this year, Cleveland next. In the spring of 2024, the company raised $250 million in fresh case from a combination of existing investor Steve Winn via his Mirasol Capital and new investors, many professional sports team owners. They include The Avenue Sports Fund, led by former Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry; Rock, founded by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert; Bolt Ventures, co-run by Blackstone partner and sports team investor David Blitzer; and investment firm Baillie Gifford. Cosm launched with live sports on its domed screen which is still the bulk of its programming in deals with most major leagues. Scalice said it was clear early on that the format would be a good fit with cinema. The venues are large with seating for about 350 over three levels, varying from traditional auditorium style to leather booths and high tops. 'We've got peak times, like Fridays and Saturday nights. We offer matinee prices, similar to what you're seeing with theatrical releases,' Scalise said. 'We've been selling out of the dome rather fast, especially with The Matrix, so we're going to increase seating at some of our new locations.' Jeff Goldstein, President, Warner Bros. Pictures Global Distribution said the studio was 'excited to work with Cosm on the first-ever presentation of this kind in celebration of The Matrix, and thrilled with the results … Audiences truly embraced this unique sight and sound experience, so it was an easy 'yes' when the opportunity to dig into the extensive Warner catalog and give Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory – one of the most enduring and beloved films of several generations of moviegoers – the Cosm treatment.' 'Willy Wonka has been a creative tentpole for us – a film that shaped our upbringing and expanded our sense of what's possible when imagination leads,' said Little Cinema founder and CEO Jay Rinsky, calling it an honor to 'have the chance to expand the storytelling around the frame, enhancing its most pivotal moments in partnership with Cosm's groundbreaking format, MakeMake's visual effects wizardry, and Warner Bros.' iconic legacy.' The Matrix at Cosm MakeMake Creative director Bruno Ribeiro called the Cosm dome 'truly the perfect canvas' and The Matrix 'a gift. I mean, it deals with perceptions of reality, the perception of virtual reality, it deals with the topics of AI, it's so relevant. The question was, how do we translate a flat movie into a 3D immersive experience?' MakeMake Creative Director Kirk Shintani said the challenge in Wonka is 'to build on a shared creative language — and create something that honors and expands the world that first captivated audiences in 1971.' 'I think the biggest test for us was to take the concepts that Little Cinema and Bruno put together and figure out how to translate them in a production environment,' said Shintani. Wonka offered much 'latitude to really explore and expand the world. Because it's an older movie, it's a classic movie. So we can play with that. The movie is still the movie, still the star. 'We were really excited to try and push the boundaries of of what the moviegoing experience could be. Because I think people are really looking for a new experience, something to get them out of the house, something that's not streaming right to their home TV. They're looking for something additive to the experience,' he said. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery Everything We Know About The 'Heartstopper' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'Emily In Paris' Season 5 So Far
Axios
10-07-2025
- Business
- Axios
Dan Gilbert has become Cleveland leaders' favorite billionaire
Cleveland leaders now have a billionaire they feel they can worship in good conscience. State of play: It's Cavs owner Dan Gilbert. His investments downtown are being celebrated and painted in stark contrast to the Haslams' impending Browns move. Driving the news: That was the subtext from elected leaders who spoke at a "topping off" ceremony for the Cleveland Clinic Global Peak Performance Center this week. Leaders also praised the nearly 200 tradespeople who erected in nine months the structural frame for the riverfront building that will become the Cavs main training facility. It'll open in 2027 as part of the first phase in Gilbert's $3.5 billion riverfront master plan. What they're saying: "Give it up for Dan Gilbert," Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne said in coaxing the crowd into a round of applause. "He's a guy who gets it, who understands the importance of reinvesting in downtown." Zoom in: Ronayne, Mayor Justin Bibb and others touted two other high-profile, Gilbert-led "wins" for Cleveland: A new WNBA franchise, slated to launch in 2028. And the announced Rock Block development north of Rocket Arena, to be anchored by the immersive sports bar concept Cosm. Between the lines: The downtown Cosm is an extra-sweet victory for the Gilbert-aligned camp, as the Haslams had pursued the sports bar for their planned Brook Park development adjacent to a new stadium. Follow the money: Cavs CEO Nic Barlage said Gilbert's investments in local sports and entertainment infrastructure will total more than $1.1 billion after the WNBA franchise arrives and the Peak Performance Center is complete.
New Straits Times
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: 'The Matrix is everywhere': cinema bets on immersion
IN a Los Angeles theatre, a trench coat-wearing Neo bends backwards to dodge bullets that spiral over the viewer's head, as the sound of gunfire erupts from everywhere. This new immersive experience is designed to be a red pill moment that will get film fans off their couches at a time when the movie industry is desperate to bring back audiences. Cosm, which has venues in Los Angeles and Dallas, is launching its dome-style screen and 3D sets in June with a "shared reality" version of 'The Matrix', the cult 1999 film starring Keanu Reeves as a man who suddenly learns his world is a fiction. "We believe the future will be more immersive and more experiential," said Cosm president Jeb Terry at a recent preview screening. "It's trying to create an additive, a new experience, ideally non-cannibalistic, so that the industry can continue to thrive across all formats." Cinema audiences were already dwindling when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, shuttering theatres at a time when streaming was exploding. With ever bigger and better TVs available for the home, the challenge for theater owners is to offer something that movie buffs cannot get in their living room. Prestige projects like Tom Cruise's 'Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning' or Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning 'Oppenheimer' increasingly opt for the huge screens and superior film quality of IMAX. But Cosm and other projects like it want to go one step further, collaborating with designers who have worked with Cirque du Soleil to create an environment in which the viewer feels like they are inside the film. For filmmakers, it's all about how you place the cameras and where you capture the sound, said Jay Rinsky, founder of Little Cinema, a creative studio specializing in immersive experiences. "We create sets like the Parisian opera, let the movie be the singer, follow the tone, highlight the emotions... through light, through production design, through 3D environments," he said. The approach, he said, felt particularly well suited to 'The Matrix', which he called "a masterpiece of cinema, but done as a rectangle". For the uninitiated: Reeves' Neo is a computer hacker who starts poking around in a life that doesn't quite seem to fit. A mysterious Laurence Fishburne offers him a blue pill that will leave him where he is, or a red pill that will show him he is a slave whose body is being farmed by AI machines while his conscious lives in a computer simulation. There follows much gunfire, lots of martial arts and some mysticism, along with a romance between Neo and Trinity, played by the leather-clad Carrie-Anne Moss. 'The Matrix' in shared reality kicks off with a choice of cocktails — blue or red, of course — which are consumed as the audience sits surrounded by high-definition screens. Shifting perspectives place the viewer inside Neo's office cubicle, or seemingly in peril. "They're sometimes inside the character's head," said Rinsky. "The world changes as you look up and down for trucks coming at you." The result impressed those who were at the preview screening.
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
‘The Matrix is everywhere': Cinema bets on immersion
Attendees watching an extended screen of the character Neo's bullet time during the first shared reality screening of The Matrix inside Cosm Los Angeles. PHOTO: AFP INGLEWOOD, United States – In a Los Angeles theatre, a trench coat-wearing Neo bends backwards to dodge bullets that spiral over the viewer's head, as the sound of gunfire erupts from everywhere. This new immersive experience is designed to be a red-pill moment that will get film fans off their couches at a time when the movie industry is desperate to bring back audiences. Cosm, which has venues in Los Angeles and Dallas, is launching its dome-style screen and 3D sets in June with a 'shared reality' version of The Matrix, the cult 1999 film starring Canadian actor Keanu Reeves as a man who suddenly learns his world is a fiction. 'We believe the future will be more immersive and more experiential,' said Cosm president Jeb Terry at a recent preview screening. 'It's trying to create an additive, a new experience, ideally non-cannibalistic, so that the industry can continue to thrive across all formats.' Cinema audiences were already dwindling when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, shuttering theatres at a time when streaming was exploding. With ever bigger and better TVs available for the home, the challenge for theatre owners is to offer something that movie buffs cannot get in their living room. Prestige projects such as Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (2025) or Christopher Nolan's Oscar-winning Oppenheimer (2023) increasingly opt for the huge screens and superior film quality of Imax. But Cosm and other projects like it want to go one step further, collaborating with designers who have worked with contemporary circus producer Cirque du Soleil to create an environment in which the viewer feels like he or she is inside the film. For film-makers, it is all about how you place the cameras and where you capture the sound, said Jay Rinsky, founder of Little Cinema, a creative studio specialising in immersive experiences. 'We create sets like the Parisian opera, let the movie be the singer, follow the tone, highlight the emotions... through light, through production design, through 3D environments,' he said. The approach, he added, felt particularly well suited to The Matrix, which he called 'a masterpiece of cinema, but done as a rectangle'. For the uninitiated: Reeves' Neo is a computer hacker who starts poking around in a life that does not quite seem to fit. A mysterious man portrayed by American actor Laurence Fishburne offers him a blue pill that will leave him where he is or a red pill that will show him he is a slave, whose body is being farmed by artificial intelligence machines while his consciousness lives in a computer simulation. There follows much gunfire, lots of martial arts and some mysticism, along with a romance between Neo and Trinity, played by Canadian actress Carrie-Anne Moss. Attendees watch an opening sequence during the first shared reality screening of The Matrix on an immersive dome screen at Cosm Los Angeles. PHOTO: AFP The Matrix in shared reality kicks off with a choice of cocktails – blue or red, of course – which are consumed as the audience sits surrounded by high-definition screens. Shifting perspectives place the viewer inside Neo's office cubicle or seemingly in peril. 'They're sometimes inside the character's head,' said Rinsky. 'The world changes as you look up and down for trucks coming at you.' The result impressed those who were at the preview screening. 'It did feel like an experience,' said influencer Vince Rossi. 'It felt like you're at a theme park for a movie almost.' AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Cision Canada
05-06-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
iGan Partners Leads Seed+ Financing for Cosm Medical to Advance Personalized Gynecological Devices
TORONTO, June 5, 2025 /CNW/ - iGan Partners is pleased to announce that it has led the first close of a Seed+ financing round for Cosm Medical, a medical device company modernizing pelvic health through personalized gynecological care. The round included new investor Spring Impact Capital and several angels, and will support Cosm's U.S. expansion, clinical validation, and commercial growth. Cosm's flagship platform, Gynethotics TM, combines medical imaging, AI-driven design software, and 3D printing to create custom vaginal devices – starting with pessaries – tailored to each patient's unique anatomy and needs. The solution addresses a widespread but underserved women's health issue: pelvic floor disorders, which affect up to half of all women in their lifetime. "Cosm is modernizing a long-overlooked space in women's health through a personalized, data-driven platform grounded in precision care," said Sam Ifergan, Founding Partner at iGan Partners. "We're excited to support their mission to improve outcomes and quality of life for millions of women." "At Cosm, we're not just building a product—we're redefining an entire category of women's health. Our Gynethotics™ platform is more than just technology; it's a commitment to precision, personalization, and dignity in care. With the support of iGan Partners and our investors, we're accelerating a future where women are no longer underserved – where every solution is tailored, and true innovation means changing lives. This is just the beginning." – Derek Sham, Founder & CEO of Cosm Medical. "We were impressed with Derek's experience in commercializing medical devices, as well as COSM's extraordinary team, depth of intellectual property and thoughtfulness of the go-to-market strategy, said Olivia Hornby, Managing Partner at Spring Impact Capital. "As impact investors, we were excited by COSM's mission of building customized and data centric Gynethotics solutions – providing better care for the huge percentage of women who suffer from pelvic floor disorders. Gynethotics TM pessaries are approved for sale in both Canada and the U.S., and Cosm is actively expanding its presence across North America. The company is also building its clinical dataset and advancing its product pipeline to support new applications beyond pessary support, including postpartum and post-surgical recovery. About Cosm Medical Cosm Medical is a medical device company developing a hardware and software platform to personalize the treatment of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs), such as incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Its first product, Gynethotics TM, is a made-to-measure gynecological prosthetics platform that combines imaging, AI, and 3D printing to improve pessary performance, enhance patient comfort, and reduce complications. Cosm is redefining care for a long-overlooked area of women's health through precision medicine and digital innovation. Learn more at About iGan Partners iGan Partners is a North American venture capital firm focused on investing in emerging leaders in medical technology and digital health. We partner with founders building transformative solutions to improve patient outcomes, reduce system inefficiencies, and enable the future of data-driven care. iGan provides capital and strategic support to early commercial-stage companies across MedTech, digital health, diagnostics, and health IT. Our team brings deep sector expertise, a strong cross-border network, and a track record of scaling healthcare ventures from early growth to successful exit. Learn more at
