‘Spheres’ Producer Atlas V Sets ‘Gloomy Eyes,’ ‘Crusoe,’ ‘Fortune’ (EXCLUSIVE)

By Elsa Keslassy

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Atlas V, the Paris-based VR powerhouse whose “Spheres” and “Battlescar” are playing at the Venice Film Festival, is developing and producing several new projects with international talent, including “Gloomy Eyes,” “Crusoe” and “Fortune.”

“Gloomy Eyes” is a real-time animated VR series directed by Jorge Tereso and Fernando Maldonado, the duo behind the 2012 animated short “Shave It.” Set in 1983, “Gloomy Eyes” centers on a zombie who is an outlaw and has access to things humans don’t see or understand. In his world, zombies have been around for almost a decade but are being hunted down and hiding in the forest. The three-part series is being produced by , 3DAR and Arte.

“Crusoe” is being developed by Jalil Lespert, the director of “Yves Saint Laurent” and “Versailles,” and Pierre Zandrowicz, who previously helmed “I, Philip.” A re-imagining of the classic tale of Robinson Crusoe, the room-scale experience follows an exile into a spiritual and poetic world where the user interacts with others. “Crusoe” is being produced by Atlas V, Film France and Onze Cinq.

“Fortune” is a documentary series in augmented reality that will be directed by Brett Gaylor, whose credits include “RiP: A Remix Manifesto,” about copyright issues in the information age. “Fortune” will explore in a playful and modern way what lies behind currencies and the power of money in our society. “Fortune” is produced by Atlas V, Arte and Canada’s NFB.

Atlas is also developing “Destiny,” a VR documentary to be directed by Andres Jarach (“El Gaucho”), about a kid who doesn’t like to eat but who grows up to become the famous chef Pierre Gagnaire.

All these projects are being backed by France’s National Film Board (CNC).

Altas’ production slate also includes Jan Kounen’s mystical experience, “Ayahuasca,” as well as Clement Deneux’s “Untold Stories,” a documentary series being produced with the BBC and Arte, which will feature well-known directors exploring passion projects that never got made.

Atlas V is attending Venice with Eliza McNitt’s “Spheres,” an interactive journey inspired by the iconic “Pale Blue Dot” image of planet Earth and exec produced by Darren Aronofsky (with the voices of Jessica Chastain, Patti Smith and Millie Bobby Brown), and “Battlescar,” an animated series narrated by Rosario Dawson, about a Puerto Rican living in New York City in the late 1970s.

All three episodes of “Spheres” are playing for the first time at a festival and are competing in Venice. “Battlescar,” which previously played at Tribeca, is screening out of competition.