AMC-Backed VR Startup Dreamscape Immersive Opens Los Angeles Location

By Janko Roettgers

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – AMC-backed virtual reality startup Dreamscape Immersive is getting ready to open its first permanent location in Los Angeles. The company’s first VR center will open its doors at the Westfield Century City mall next month, and will follow with 4 additional locations in markets outside of L.A. soon after.

The new Westfield location will house 3 experiences at launch, including the company’s own “Alien Zoo” experience, a new original production called “Lavan’s Magic Projector: The Lost Pearl,” and a new experience co-produced with Venice, Calif.-based VR startup WEVR called “The Blu: Deep Rescue.”

Dreamscape is one of a number of startups looking to take VR out of the home and into malls and movie theaters, where consumers can experience more believable immersion, thanks to physical cues and the ability to explore virtual spaces without being wired to a PC.

“Dreamscape is pioneering a new breed of entertainment experiences that are social at their core and, through clever uses of immersion, put the audience at the center of the narrative” CEO Bruce Vaughn told Variety.

Dreamscape’s Los Angeles location will open on December 14. Next year, the company is aiming to open at least four additional locations in partnership with AMC Theatres, with locations including Dallas/Ft. Worth, Columbus Ohio, and the New York/New Jersey metro area. Some of these will be standalone properties, while others will be integrated into existing AMC theaters.

In addition to AMC, Dreamscape is also backed by 21st Century Fox, WarnerMedia, Viacom, MGM, Westfield, IMAX, Steven Spielberg and Hans Zimmer, among others.