David S. Goyer (who will probably want you to remember him more for The Dark Knight than Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance) is teaming up with Lucasfilm and the complicatedly named studio ILMxLAB to create a virtual reality Darth Vader-based Star Wars Film.
When the film was announced at Star Wars Celebration 2016, it wasn’t made entirely clear what this entails. It was said to run on a “persistent” basis each day and night, so I’m not sure how Goyer will write the thing. Won’t he struggle to keep up with writing and structuring new storylines and material in a race against time itself?
Says Goyer, “You are the visitor in this story that is happening in and around you, and to a certain extent you might even have some effect on.” This effect, he went on to say, will include walking around, touching other characters (maybe sexually?), touching things, opening things, pushing things, picking things up, and basically just existing in the same world as Darth Vader, which should be enough to sell it to any sane human being on planet Earth.
What does he mean, “in and around you?” I get around, but in? That sounds rather violating and uncomfortable. And another little problem: while it’s been described as a film, it doesn’t sound much like a film since it’s a reality audiences can exist in and it apparently lasts forever, so I think a better word to use would be “experience.”
Apparently we won’t even have to wait that long for this seemingly impossible project to become a (virtual) reality.
According to Goyer, it could be done within a year or two, and he’s very eager to get it to us (despite seeming to not really even know what it is).
Other announcements and revelations at the Celebration include a teaser for Rogue One containing a hysteria-inducing glimpse at Vader, as well as gritty, war movie-like, un-Star Wars-like footage from the film, Alden Ehrenreich in a public appearance confirming his casting as young Han Solo, and Mark Hamill sharing some crunchy Chewbacca-shaped snacks.
