James Dolan, CEO of Sphere Entertainment, is on the brink of making history by paying an unprecedented amount for a movie ticket. An image generated by AI shows Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” projected on the exterior of the Vegas Sphere, setting the stage for an extraordinary cinematic experience.
The New York Post reports that Dolan is in the final stages of negotiations to secure an $80 million deal for adapting “The Wizard of Oz” for the Sphere at the Venetian. This venue boasts the largest movie screen ever constructed, confirming an exclusive initially revealed by Casino.org’s Vital Vegas earlier this year.
To offer some context, the original “The Wizard of Oz” film was produced 85 years ago at a cost of $2.7 million—equivalent to approximately $25 million today when adjusted for inflation.
Dolan’s negotiations are with Warner Bros. Discovery, the current rights holder of “The Wizard of Oz.” The studio gained these rights and the rest of MGM’s pre-1986 productions in a merger that cost $43 billion around 15 years ago.
The anticipated result is an 80-minute experience that trims about 20 minutes from the original film but incorporates state-of-the-art visual effects and haptic seat immersion. Speculation even includes the possibility of seeing those iconic flying monkeys in a whole new light.
However, according to The Post, the project has not yet begun at the Little Sphere prototype in Burbank, California, which implies that completion is still several months to a year away.
In the meantime, the Sphere continues to showcase “Postcard from Earth,” a 55-minute sci-fi film directed by Darren Aronofsky that champions environmentalism. This film debuted alongside the spherical venue in September 2023 and remains a daily fixture, with each ticket priced at $114.
Anticipation is building for anything new related to Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and of course, Toto. According to a source quoted by The Post, Warner Bros. Discovery stands to earn 5% of the gross profits generated from this innovative adaptation.
