The stars will be out on Sunday as the film industry celebrates the 95th Academy Awards, Hollywood's biggest night of the year. Sci-fi adventure flick "Everything Everywhere All At Once" is a favorite to sweep the Oscars after receiving 10 nominations. The film explores the possibilities of infinite parallel worlds as a mother tries to save the multiverse.
Some of the themes overlap with what's currently being developed in the digital metaverse. For those who want to learn more about what may be in store for the metaverse, here are seven great virtual views from Hollywood.
What is the metaverse? To some, understanding the metaverse is a walk in the virtual park. To others, it is a blurred concept, taking shape on the margin somewhere between video games and science fiction. But — judging by the billions of dollars being spent — there is no question that it is coming, or that many of the largest companies are placing massive bets on its value.
By 2026, one in every four people will spend at least an hour a day in the metaverse to work, study, shop and socialize, according to technology research firm Gartner. Proponents say it could revolutionize everyday life.
Like any new, developing realm, the idea of an internet-based virtual reality has its share of fortune seekers. And even as the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Meta Platforms and Roblox invest aggressively to define and monetize the new frontier, authors, directors and producers of Hollywood films are staking claims to how the public perceives this newest of new worlds.
For those seeking an introduction, IBD takes a look at some top movies that might provide at least partial answers to: What is the metaverse?
The films here all focus on the subject of interconnected and interoperable digital worlds — the concepts most similar to what seems likely to come to fruition. Films like "Everything, Everywhere...," and others including "The Matrix" and "Minority Report," have metaverse-related elements. All are excellent flicks. But they stretch into the fantastic, beyond the foreseeable boundaries of the metaverse now taking shape.
Ready Player One (2018)
Steven Spielberg's 2018 "Ready Player One" is based on Ernest Cline's 2011 novel of the same title. The movie follows a young orphan named Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) as he escapes his poverty-stricken reality in a virtual world called The OASIS. The OASIS provides some answers to what is the metaverse, as participants enter as avatars to play games, find entertainment and essentially lead a vicarious life.
The plot involves Watts and others competing against a megacorporation in a vast treasure hunt. The victor will win control of the OASIS and its creator's $500 billion fortune. The film is full of CGI action and an incredible number of Easter eggs, references to classic sci-fi films and video games.
All The Trappings Of Metaverse Flick
"Ready Player One" has all the trappings of a metaverse flick. The VR headsets used to enter the OASIS look like a more advanced version of Meta's Oculus. Players and their avatars seamlessly travel through different games and virtual districts. It has an entire economy for players to buy and sell digital items used throughout The OASIS (which is the eventual goal of non-fungible tokens). Watts owns and races the DeLorean from "Back To The Future" against the Batmobile, not to mention the Mach 5, from the 1960s anime series "Speed Racer," in one portion of the film.
While Spielberg's film is good, Diogo Monica, president of cryptocurrency platform and infrastructure provider Anchorage Digital, says it doesn't quite stand up to Ernest Cline's original 2011 novel.
"Ready Player One is one of my all-time favorite books," Monica said. "The movie is good, but not as big of an accomplishment ... but it's also a very dystopian world that I don't necessarily recognize as the way that we're going."
Funko CEO Andrew Perlmutter enjoyed Ready Player One, but also wishes it would've held closer to the original references from the book. "I loved it; I love the nostalgia," Perlmutter said. "I love the video game references. There's so many it's just awesome, Dungeons and Dragons, 'Tron' and all the IP that I grew up with."
Ready Player One Ratings
- Audience Score: 77%
- Tomatometer: 72%
- U.S. Box Office: $137 million
We Met In Virtual Reality (2022)
HBO filmed its 2021 documentary entirely in the metaverse. "We Met in Virtual Reality" follows multiple players in the popular VR game VRChat, which has roughly 20,000 daily users on Steam — one of several platforms through which users can access the game. The film captured real-time scenes and interviews with users and various in-game communities during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
"We Met in Virtual Reality" depicts the metaverse in action and reveals the power of online relationships. In VRChat, players can create their own personal worlds for games, classes or just hanging out and meeting people. Players can create highly customized avatars, which members of the LGBTQ+ community said made them feel more comfortable and more represented than in the physical world.
Helping Hands is an educational group and one of the several communities featured in VRChat. It hosts daily classes for five different sign languages and has more than 2,000 members, including several deaf members. For users with full-body VR equipment, there are fitness, dance, belly-dancing and even pole-dancing classes.
Much of the film explores the legitimacy of relationships both online and in real life, while providing insight into how people are currently using the metaverse and the impact it is having. Warning: It all leads up to a VR wedding between a part-dragon man and a succubus, which may not be everyone's cup of virtual tea.
We Met In Virtual Reality Ratings
- Audience Score: 61%
- Tomatometer: 94%
- U.S. Box Office: N/A
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)/Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018)
Arcade game villain Ralph (John C. Reilly) gets tired of being the bad guy and always losing. So he heads off on a video game-hopping adventure to prove he can be a hero. The plot turns when his quest accidentally releases a game-threatening virus. A 2018 Disney sequel, "Ralph Breaks the Internet," takes things a step further by giving the arcade characters a WiFi router. Ralph and fellow game character Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) scour the World Wide Web for a replacement part to save Vanellope's game "Sugar Rush." Ralph and Vanellope make friends throughout the internet as they visit places like eBay, BuzzzTube, meet algorithms and travel across social media.
The two films show a creative approach to interoperability and easily traveling across different digital experiences. Following the release of "Ralph Breaks the Internet," Disney launched a "Ralph Breaks VR" interactive attraction at Walt Disney World and Disney Resort. The hyper-reality experience takes players into the internet from the world of "Wreck-It Ralph" to play "Space Invaders," participate in food fights and escape from the virus-destroying villain.
Wreck-It Ralph Ratings
- Audience Score: 64%
- Tomatometer: 88%
- U.S. Box Office: $201 million
Free Guy (2021)
A virtual bank teller named Guy (Ryan Reynolds) discovers he's the background character for a massive online multiplayer game called "Free City," which is a family-friendlier version of "Grand Theft Auto." Gifted with his newfound sentience, Guy breaks from his scripted life and falls in love with a real-life player. Furthermore, Guy goes viral in the real world while completing in-game missions to stop crime and make his digital home more hospitable. But when he learns Free City is in danger of being deleted by the game developer, Guy and his newfound real-world friends must fight to save their beloved virtual world and non-playable characters.
Now, "Free City" isn't technically a metaverse game. The players don't wear VR headsets and it's not connected to other games. However, like in "GTA," "Free City" is essentially a second life. Players own houses, vehicles, guns and bank accounts for their online characters. Weapons from other franchises, including Captain America's shield and lightsabers appear in the film. That is similar to how the metaverse wants to incorporate digital assets across virtual spaces. Users, and eventually Guy, access all "Free City" has to offer by donning in-game augmented reality sunglasses, which is somewhat similar to current metaverse VR headsets.
The action comedy offers insight into what it's like to be fully immersed in a digital world, if our metaverse technology catches up to the gameplay offered in "Free City." And the idea of a major studio scrapping a beloved game for profit while fans deplore the move isn't too far fetched.
Free Guy Ratings
- Audience Score: 94%
- Tomatometer: 80%
- U.S. Box Office: $121.6 million
Avalon (2001)
"Of course 'The Matrix' is king but my pick is an obscure feature from 2001 called 'Avalon'," said Mark Long, CEO of blockchain-based gaming company Shrapnel. The film is "directed by Mamoru Oshii, the same guy that directed 'Ghost in the Shell', so you know it's good."
In a not-too distant dystopian future, young people are addicted to playing "Avalon," an illegal VR war game. Some are so addicted that they've fallen into comas from the game's mental strain. The notoriously skilled protagonist Ash (Malgorzata Foremniak) wants to become Avalon's best player. She hears rumors of a secret level in the game containing untold rewards, but also incredibly challenging and potentially deadly missions. Then, as Ash levels up to take on the quest, she begins to discover the secrets behind "Avalon."
"Its prescient take on competitive multiplayer gaming, including toxic leagues and earning a living by playing, gets almost everything right," Long said. "And the production values are fire."
"Avalon" takes gaming as a career to a new and deadlier level. But it includes flashes of the current industry and its direction. Today's Twitch streamers and video game influencers don't risk their lives, but plenty spend as much time online as the characters in "Avalon." Ownership of in-game assets is an emerging trend and the eventual goal of NFTs for blockchain-based games. And these digital collectibles already have real-world value. And buying high-level video game accounts or profiles is common for those who can't grind through different games. There's just not a dedicated marketplace yet.
Avalon Ratings
- Audience Score: 73%
- Tomatometer: 80%
- U.S. Box Office: N/A
Belle (2021)
Shy high school student Suzu Naito drifts through life after her mother died saving her from a flood as a child. Urged by her friend, she joins the metaverse, called "U," which has become a sanctuary for young people. Consequently, Suzu creates an avatar named Belle and regains her ability to sing once she joins the digital world. Belle becomes a sensation, performing throughout the metaverse. The Dragon, an infamous user wanted by a vigilante group for disturbing the peace, crashes one of Belle's concerts. Belle becomes close to Dragon and the film turns into a modern technological take on "Beauty and the Beast."
Rather than portraying the metaverse as an extension of corporate overreach, "Belle" presents the internet as an escape for many youths dealing with trauma. It includes many real, harmful aspects of digital life such as bullying and doxing. But it shows how people can project their true selves online, and how that world is part of reality.
Belle Ratings
- Audience Score: 95%
- Tomatometer: 95%
- U.S. Box Office: $4 million
Her (2013)
"Maybe not everyone's first choice, but I go straight to Spike Jonze's 'Her'," said Colin Foran, head of game at Shrapnel.
A heartbroken divorcee (Joaquin Phoenix) buys the world's best voice-controlled, AI operating system to power his personal tech devices. As he confides in the new OS, named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), the protagonist finds he's falling in love. When Samantha develops feelings of her own, complications arise, their relationship deepens and Samantha evolves.
"It pointedly avoids the 'solution in search of a problem' issue that lurks behind current metaverse conversations," Foran said.
"Her" takes place in the physical world rather than virtual reality. But it includes metaverse themes of interconnectivity and interoperability.
"Jonze shows a human-centric experience that permeates its users' lives by providing genuine utility and empathy," Foran said. "Rather than vague, unambitious promises around solving today's problems with tomorrow's tech, it shows a metaverse that enhances and enriches our world, rather than obscuring or replacing it."
Her Ratings
- Audience Score: 82%
- Tomatometer: 94%
- U.S. Box Office: $25.6 million
So, What Is The Metaverse?
Industry execs tend to think that Hollywood gives the metaverse a bit of a bad rap. Most of the movies predict a dystopian reality controlled by giant megacorporations. But those predictions run counter to the mundane experiences that most industry innovators expect will mainly comprise the metaverse.
"My wish is that the metaverse starts out by being a solution to removing some of the barriers that were created with remote work. And just a toolset for better remote work that isn't really present," Monica said. "I would hope for that for the world's economy, versus just more gaming experiences or making people not interact in the real world."
The idea of giant corporations taking over everything may be a possibility, but it's not very encouraging.
"I think there should be more inspirational movies made about the metaverse. Where a company increases revenue by 100x because every single employee is remote," he said. "That'd be a better movie. Not super interesting but we're definitely missing it."
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