Bright lightsabers, intricate cosplay, authentic prop replicas … if you walk two minutes into Dallas Comic Con or Fan Days Dallas, you’ll run into those super fans who dress up as armored Imperials or robed Jedi, who live and breathe the Star Wars saga. But, until Galaxy’s Edge opens next year at the two North American Disney Parks, these fans have never really had a chance to actually live in the galaxy far, far away. A new experience at the Cinemark in West Plano, however, changes all of that.
The VOID is a virtual reality experience, combining a computer-generated environment with accurate movement. After slipping on a bulky visor and a haptic vest, you become completely immersed into a new world. But what separates The VOID from other VR experiences you might have tried (the ones that marketing teams love to wheel out during conferences and activations) is how many of your senses are activated, besides just simple, three-hundred-sixty degree sight: you smell the burning of the lava planet of Mustafar and you feel the heat of the flames rising to your feet.
(And, honestly, I’m still trying to recover.)
The Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire campaign currently “playing” at the Cinemark West Plano is only about fifteen minutes long but, for those fifteen minutes, you are in the universe that George Lucas created, shooting stormtroopers with blaster rifles, feeling the kickback and the sting of getting hit.
I don’t want to delve too much into the plot of the experience, if only not to give spoilers away. But the settings and characters are familiar: Diego Luna reprises his role as Rogue One’s Cassian Andor (recently announced as the next Disney+ streaming series), briefing you on your undercover mission to Revenge of the Sith’s planet of Mustafar. From there, you strap in and prepare your team of 2-4 people to become undercover stormtroopers recovering an important artifact. And, in typical Star Wars fashion … the mission does not go correctly.
The (three) times I’ve gone to check it out (I really can’t get enough of this), the lines have been healthy but move briskly. Excited groups of families and friends all eager to try it for themselves, snaking around a specially-built, sleek section of the movie theatre. People leaving the experience are actually buzzing, realizing that they’ve never experienced something quite like this before, which is a sight in itself.
But that’s just Star Wars. And there’s a lot more to enjoy in this world than just the galaxy far, far away (or so I’ve been told). Super Kaiju briefly talked to Cinemark’s SVP of Marketing and Communications, James Meredith, about what’s next for The VOID and its partnership with the theatre chain, which is currently debuting several new properties (including multiple VOID-owned IP’s).
What was the process of finalizing this VOID VR partnership? Since this is the first “test” that Cinemark has worked on with VOID, what are the hopeful next steps?
Cinemark is always innovating and finding different ways to enhance the overall entertainment experience for our guests. Our relationship with The VOID is just another example of the ways we provide more than just an opportunity to see a movie, but rather serve as a true entertainment destination. For now, we are eager to continue our relationship with The VOID and provide visitors to our location new experiences. This unique experience allows our guests to evolve their family outings, date nights and corporate events and go home feeling excited about Cinemark. We are eager to get guest feedback and see how adding this type of engaging experience to our theatres enhances visiting Cinemark.
What are some of the next experiences set for this VOID experience in Plano?
The team at The VOID has developed several other virtual experiences that will put players into the worlds of films like the iconic paranormal comedy Ghostbusters, an original horror story called Nicodemus: Demon of Evanishment and a simulation based on Wreck-It-Ralph and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, all of which will make their way to Cinemark West Plano and XD.
Keep an eye on www.cinemark.com/thevoid for more information about additional experiences coming to The Void.
What is the development time to build such an immersive environment … all while being confined to the limitations of a part of an already-built theatre?
Cinemark took what used to be our box office and renovated the space completely to create a separate hub that now houses The VOID. We wanted to make sure that this experience was clearly identifiable and added to the overall image of our theatre. The entire renovation and installation process took a total of 4 months to complete.
One of the great parts about the experience was that you were on a team together: will there be any upcoming VOID challenges that will have you facing off against other real-life team members?
One of the most stunning qualities of The VOID is being able to work together with you’re your friends and family to achieve a goal. Working together in an iconic universe is such a unique experience, and we’re eager to see what The VOID comes up with next.
Long term, what do you hope the future of this experience will be?
We’re excited to be the first movie theatre exhibitor with this kind of experience available in-theatre in the United States. Looking ahead, Cinemark will continue to expand our in-theatre experience across the country.
Initially, The VOID’s locations were prohibitive (at least, for people in the South): the Star Wars experience has been around for almost two years, but only in locations like Los Angeles, Orlando and Las Vegas (in fact, a few months ago, I scheduled a late work flight out of Sin City, just so I could coordinate some time to try Secrets of the Empire myself). Now that it has landed in D/FW, however, it is so tempting to just drive down the Tollway and enter my favorite galaxy whenever I want.
As if my gushing over the past few hundred words didn’t convince you: this is the real deal. And, if it is hard to convince your friends or family to shell out the cash for the (somewhat steep) admission, the multiple themes circulating might make it an easier pill to swallow (with the newest incarnation, Ralph Breaks VR, the latest addition). I am planning on taking my little brothers to the Star Wars experience when they get back in town for Thanksgiving, eager to delve into a world I love with them.
Check it out for yourselves by visiting: https://www.cinemark.com/thevoid. You’ll probably see me there.
