Google and Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR) announced a new AI technology partnership to bring The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to life using generative AI. This project, involving innovative engineering and numerous creators, coders, and VFX artists, marks a pivotal moment in entertainment technology, reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz’s use of Technicolor nearly 90 years ago.
To present The Wizard of Oz at Sphere, opening in Las Vegas on August 28, 2025, Google Cloud and Google DeepMind are collaborating to enhance the film’s quality using advanced Gemini models, Veo 2, and Imagen 3. These technologies will improve the film’s resolution, expand backgrounds, and digitally recreate characters who can’t appear together on screen. Sphere is utilizing Google Cloud’s scalable AI infrastructure to handle the large data and processing needs, with The Wizard of Oz at Sphere managing 1.2 petabytes of data so far.
“The power of generative AI, combined with Google’s infrastructure and expertise, is helping us to achieve something extraordinary,” said Jim Dolan, Executive Chairman and CEO, Sphere Entertainment. “We needed a partner who could push boundaries alongside our teams at Sphere Studios and Magnopus, and Google was the only company equipped to meet the challenge on the world’s highest resolution LED screen.”
“Our partnership with Sphere on The Wizard of Oz at Sphere is a great example of pushing the boundaries of generative AI to deliver exciting new experiences for audiences – and new opportunities for studios and filmmakers,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. “We are honored to play a role in such an ambitious project to bring a classic piece of Americana to an entirely new generation of audiences.”
Using Google AI to bring The Wizard of Oz at Sphere to Life
Originally released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz was filmed using a revolutionary, three-strip Technicolor 35mm camera and was only the third Hollywood production to employ this color process. Nearly 90 years later, Sphere will present an immersive version of The Wizard of Oz in its 160,000-square-foot display, using Google AI and traditional VFX to enhance scenes and characters for a unique experience.
Google Cloud and DeepMind are advancing generative AI with their Gemini, Veo, and Imagen models, along with Google Cloud’s infrastructure like custom AI accelerators, Tensor Processor Units (TPUs), and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). Key techniques used for the film include:
- Super Resolution: Veo is being used to intelligently enhance the film’s resolution, filling in missing pixels and creating an ultra-crisp 16k image, essential for Sphere’s 16k x 16k resolution interior display plane. This process requires sophisticated algorithms capable of understanding and reconstructing intricate details, including landscapes, scenery, and even characters from the original film.
- Outpainting: To expand the film’s visual scope for Sphere’s immersive environment, Veo are being used to seamlessly extend the backgrounds and characters, creating the feeling that audiences are there with the characters. This involves generating coherent and consistent foreground and midground elements that were true to the original film.
- Performance Generation: Using Veo for generation – combined with Gemini for instructions – the team developed innovative storytelling techniques that allow multiple characters to remain on screen for extended periods, even when traditional editing would have dictated cuts. This enhances the audience’s immersion, making them feel like they were part of the epic journey.
- Context Window: Gemini and Veo’s extra-long context window capabilities are crucial for maintaining coherence across extended sequences. This allows for the processing of massive datasets, ensuring that the enhanced visuals remain consistent throughout the film.