So the producer of Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is building a $30 million live-action touring extravaganza, with 3D animated movies, rides, and people in a dome the size of two football fields. Yes, we checked; this is legit.
Michael Cohl, the producer in question, either has some major confidence in running what sounds a lot like a high-end traveling carnival themed entirely around Marvel character, or he has a serious taste for pain. Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark had a… bumpy transition to being a profitable Broadway show. And live spectacles like this are no more bullet-proof: Remember Batman Live? Yeah, it hasn’t been doing well and the website only lists 2012 tour dates.
Nonetheless, Hero Ventures, Cohl’s company, has grand plans for this oversized live show. Even the press release is grandiose in its hype:
Described as a “first-person superhero adventure” and set to debut next year, the $30 million themed production will feature dozens of Marvel characters combined with multimedia technology, original 3D animated movies and a 4D motion ride, all in a traveling dome complex the size of two football fields. The plan is to bring the Marvel Experience to two dozen cities around the US in 2014 with weeklong stays in each.
… A 4D motion ride? Isn’t that technically anything that moves through space? Anyway, misunderstanding of physics aside, this is at least pretty cool. Although if they want to make it a genuine Marvel experience, halfway through the show they’ll switch creative teams and take it in some other different direction.