Enhanced but classic ‘Wizard of Oz’ preview dazzles at Sphere in Las Vegas

The first experience in “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere” during a preview this week was not dazzling images or hypnotic sounds, but a gentle breeze. Perhaps it was the foretelling of a “twister.”

A few minutes later, Judy Garland’s Dorothy character sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” her little dog Toto seated on a metal tractor seat.

You’re at home in this song, and this story, even after just a sample Sphere’s upgrade of the 1939 classic, which premieres Aug. 28.

For the first time Tuesday, sections of the new “Wizard of Oz” were shown to an audience at Sphere. The presentation was the cornerstone of the Google and Sphere Entertainment’s formal announcement of its AI technology partnership on the project. The theatrical experience features pioneering technical achievement, enhancing the original Technicolor film from the nearly 90-year-old original.

Thousands of visionaries from Google DeepMind, Google Cloud, Sphere Studios, Magnopus and Warner Bros. worked on the production.

Sphere Entertainment Chairman and CEO James Dolan said he sought several AI-specialized companies, “But in the end, there was no other company that could have done this.” He called Warner Bros. officials himself with the idea of partnering in “The Wizard of Oz,” the first in what is designed to be a series of presentations under the Sphere Experiences brand.

Ticket pricing, on-sale dates and an extended show schedule will be announced. So will such other details as the movie’s actual run time, and also what will become of the current theatrical experience, Darren Aronofsky’s “Postcard from Earth.”

Google’s generative AI model, Gemini, has been employed to enhance the original film’s resolution growing the landscape and digitally re-creating characters otherwise not in a particular scene. To achieve that latter effect, producers reviewed the original script as a creative fact-checking mission to ensure the AI-expanded version is true to the movie’s storytelling.

At Sphere, Dorothy is shown chatting with Auntie Em and Miss Gulch, with Uncle Henry shown in the scene. Uncle Henry is in the original story, too, but off-camera. And, when the Cowardly Lion first startles his new friends, the camera pans between Scarecrow and Tin Man, with shots of Dorothy hiding behind a tree in the distance. The AI-enhanced Sphere version shows all those elements together, and in greater grandeur and detail.

The work is far from finished. Some live-action pieces, to compliment the film’s famous elements, are expected and being teased. Word has surfaced from inside Sphere of such frightening elements as flying-monkey drones and a powerhouse tornado.

The producers who attended Tuesday’s event did not confirm such details. Sphere President and COO Jennifer Koester said after Tuesday’s screening, “We’re still introducing the movie, but I assure you the final experience will be a multi-sensory experience. You’re going to be hit it from all sides, but we’re going to pause on commenting on that just yet.”

The answer is out there, surely behind the curtain.

‘Absinthe’ at 14

Spiegelworld founder Ross Mollison said his company has another show planned for the Strip. It’s a return to the Cosmopolitan, almost in the same theater in which “OPM” was staged. “We haven’t announced it yet. But we’re working on what it is. I’m teasing it right now. It’s certainly going to be Superfrico-adjacent.”

This is the performance space next to Superfrico’s main dining room that abuts — abuts, I tell you! — the former OPM theater. Spiegelworld and MGM Resorts International are partners in the restaurant. MGM Resorts owns the theater. Mollison would like to take over that entire venue, and is inching his way to that goal.

P&T’s latest

Las Vegas magic legends Penn & Teller were honored with the National Association of Broadcaster’s Television Chairman’s Award on Tuesday morning. The event took place at Main Stage at Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall. That’s about a 3-mile walk from anywhere else at the Convention Center.

Kelsey Grammer is a former recipient. Jennifer Hudson was honored last year.

P&T have been busier than ever as they mark their 50-year anniversary as performing partners. They have 50 road dates schedule this year. They usually play 12 to 15. They are playing Radio City Music Hall for the first time on Aug. 21, and the London Palladium for 11 shows in September. They will bank the 12th season of The CW’s “Fool Us” this year, and continue their regular run at the Rio.

The duo estimate they have written and performed about 200 tricks in those 50 years. Jillette said that’s likely the most magic ever performed by a magic act, adding, “Most people have about 12.”

Cool Hang Alert

Doubling up at Amp’d at M Resort, the nine-piece dance band Latin Breeze plays at 8 p.m. Friday; cover duo Kara & Eden is at 8 p.m. Saturday with its Top-40/classic-rock stylings. No cover. Go to themresort.com.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.