Sphere Entertainment is to showcase V-U2 An Immersive Concert Film, which was filmed at the Sphere’s U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere show at the Las Vegas venue last September.
The Sphere’s inaugural concert played to over 700,000 fans from 100 plus countries across 40 sold-out dates from September 2023 through March 2024. The V-U2 film employs Sphere’s immersive technologies, including the 160,000sqft display plane, which at 16k x 16k resolution is the world’s highest-resolution LED screen.
V-U2, which will open at The Sphere on Thursday, September 5, is the first film ever to be shot entirely with Big Sky, the ultra-high-resolution camera system developed by Sphere Entertainment. To create this larger-than-life concert film, a number of Big Sky cameras captured the band at extraordinary scale, sharpness, and clarity.
The experience will be also enhanced by Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT, which provides clear sound to everyone in Sphere, and haptic seats, which use vibrations so guests can feel the experience. All of these technologies, which were used in ‘U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere,’ will be leveraged in this Sphere Experience in new and different ways to reinforce the feeling of “being there”.
The co-directors of the film were The Edge, U2’s guitarist, and American choreographer and dancer Morleigh Steinberg. The Edge said: “The goal was to give the immersive movie goers as close to the live U2:UV concert experience as possible — and then some. I’ve never seen a U2 show. I’m so relieved I caught a great one.”
Steinberg added: “We knew all the tremendous capabilities of the technology, but we didn’t know what to expect from the process of making this film. The work became a true collaboration between band, artists, producers, and technology teams. The end result is a cinematic experience that transports viewers into the energy and beauty of the live show.”
Josephine Vaccarello, executive vice president, live, MSG Entertainment, who oversees live bookings for Sphere, added: “V-U2 is a first-of-its-kind immersive film that will transport audiences back to U2’s groundbreaking live Sphere shows and make them feel like they are there. This concert film was created specifically for Sphere, and will utilize the venue’s technologies to create an experience that is only possible at this next-generation entertainment medium.”
V-U2 captures the ‘U2:UV Achtung Baby Live At Sphere’ show directed by Willie Williams. U2 worked on the project with longtime creative collaborator and show director Willie Williams, artists including Es Devlin, John Gerrard and Marco Brambilla, and longtime partner and producer Brian Eno.
