Universal Studios is revamping its approach to its nighttime spectaculars, a move that changes where visitors watch, slows down the pacing of its film clips and busts its Harry Potter-ness out of the Wizarding World. The result will be "Universal Orlando's Cinematic Celebration," scheduled to debut sometime this summer.
It replaces a rapid-fire show that celebrated a century of movies from Universal Pictures and shifts the emphasis to characters already seen in Universal Orlando theme parks, said Michael Aiello, senior director for entertainment creative development.
"From a content standpoint, we're moving away from Universal Pictures and really wanting to celebrate the brands that the guests encounter at Universal Orlando," he said. The show, clocking in at almost 20 minutes, will include blocks devoted to the "Despicable Me" minions, "Jurassic World," DreamWorks animation, "Harry Potter" and more.
"You're going to see Potter imagery outside the Wizarding World, which is a big deal for us," Aiello said.
The show features projections onto fanned water screens, a departure from the free-falling water curtains and from the inflated globes that dominated previous end-of-night shows at the theme park. Spectators will be concentrated on the east side of the lagoon in a newly constructed standing area that holds about 6,500 people.
"The guests are going to stand in Central Park," Aiello said. "They're going to look across the lagoon facing New York and they will now see a fountain grid of over 120 fountains ... straight jets, moving jets, water screen media fountains as well."
That will turn attention toward the New York section of the park, where map projections will appear on the building facades. Aiello called it "a brand-new layered perspective."
Enter the dementors, soul-sucking creatures from the "Potter" series.
"The building facades, which we have transformed into wizarding textures, so you're going to see the New York facade, but they're going to be almost reskinned to look like aspects of Hogwarts castle," Aiello said. "That castle is going to turn to ice as those dementors move into the media."
The new show includes longer segments than before, with two-minute blocks going to "The Fast and the Furious" films and the other franchises.
The soundtrack has movie scores, primarily, but "we do have moments where we're going to dip into pop music," Aiello said. The "Fast and the Furious" stretch has related music, and Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling" from "Trolls" is heard.
"That's another texture that we haven't really done in our nighttime shows prior _ having a lot of fun with the brands and involving the guests in what they know about that brand and being able to give them an extended view of it," Aiello said.
A debut date for the production has not been announced. Universal says it will be shown on select nights beginning sometime this summer.
