Darth Vader will be the focus of an upcoming 'Star Wars' VR film
You don't know the power of the Dark Side, but one day you will ... thanks to virtual reality.
Angry space wizard Darth Vader is going to be the star of his very own VR experience, a collaboration between Lucasfilm's ILMxLAB and Hollywood filmmaker David S. Goyer. The project was revealed in a short teaser at Star Wars Celebration Europe during ILMxLab's panel.
The teaser captures the Dark Lord of the Sith in a long shot, silhouetted against a fiery nighttime planetscape -- possibly Mustafar, where Vader was "born." As this plays out, Emperor Palpatine's voiceover speaks of the "unnatural" abilities unlocked by the Dark Side of the Force.
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There are no specifics on how the VR film will approach Vader's story outside of what's in the teaser -- the visual callback to Mustafar suggests something relating to his origin. Goyer described Vader as "the perfect ambassador to usher us into the Star Wars VR universe."
You can check out the Vader VR portion of the ILMxLab panel right here (it's part of a longer livestream). If you just want to see the teaser, find it here.
The Vader project follows Trials of Tatooine, ILMxLab's first VR project set in Lucasfilm's galaxy far, far away. It's a short, semi-interactive scene for HTC Vive that arms players with a lightsaber and tasks them with keeping Imperial Stormtroopers away from the Millennium Falcon.
To date, Trials of Tatooine has only been available to demo at trade shows and conventions, but that's going to change soon. Lucasfilm confirmed that it's coming to Steam on July 18 for HTC Vive.
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Topics Film Gaming Star Wars Virtual Reality
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
