When looking at the metaverse concept in film, people tend to mention movies like The Matrix and Minority Report. While these films gave us an entertaining glimpse of what the directors believe the metaverse will be like, they weren’t accurate representations of what we now know about it, so what movie will be the first to get it 100% right?
How the Entertainment Industry Is Moving Towards the Metaverse
There’s been a lot of chat in newspapers and on TV about the impact of the metaverse, while many traditional types of entertainment have become more immersive. The likes of board games and card games have been slowly transformed through the introduction of various types of technology including virtual reality and augmented reality.
The casino industry has also taken steps in this direction. The latest online slot machines introduce us to themed settings where bonus rounds often feature characters and symbols that carry on with this theme. Titles including Arctic Fishing, Agent Gold, and Vikings Unleashed Megaways reveal the diversity of themes and images used.
In terms of the metaverse on TV, many documentaries have touched on this subject as they’ve looked at explaining how the metaverse will change our lives. TV shows like Black Mirror, Westworld, and Upload have all shown different aspects of a virtual reality world in the future, but it would be hard to argue on behalf of any of them as being the definitive look at what the metaverse holds in store for us.
Did Love Virtually Provide the Breakthrough?
It seems unlikely that a romantic comedy gives us the first genuine look at what the metaverse is all about. Yet, the 2023 release of Love Virtually gave us one of the most interesting and potentially accurate looks at the way VR technology has entered every aspect of our lives.
Stephen Tobolowsky takes on the role of Dr. Divine, who is having a virtual affair but doesn’t realize that the woman is his wife (played by Cheri Oteri) in real life. Described as a satirical retro comedy, it didn’t make a huge impression on audiences and critics on release, but perhaps this is simply because this technology is now so familiar to us that it’s no longer ground-breaking or shocking.
With no news on the horizon of upcoming metaverse movies, perhaps it’s simply a case that the metaverse is such an accepted and commonplace part of life that moviemakers don’t feel the need to make a movie specifically about it. The concept of a virtual reality that blends our physical and online worlds remains fascinating but this alone is no longer eye-catching enough to act as the basis of a big movie.
In this case, we should expect to see the metaverse appear in an increasing number of movies without being the actual subject. We might never see a blockbuster hit that focuses solely on the metaverse, but before long we can expect to see it included as a key element of many films with diverse themes, just as it’s entered so many other parts of the entertainment industry.
