Dorothy, you’re not in Kansas anymore — you’re in the Las Vegas Sphere, stirring up a tornado of controversy.
With help from artificial intelligence, “The Wizard of Oz” was reimagined into an interactive experience for audiences at the Sphere, a massive, spherical entertainment venue in Las Vegas.
It’s drawing extreme responses from both ends of the spectrum. While some viewers are gushing over the Sphere’s version of the film’s jaw-dropping immersive effects, others think the AI alterations violate the integrity of the Hollywood classic.
The 1939 version of the film was shot to fill the standard, rectangular theater screens of its era — not the Sphere’s 160,000 square-foot wraparound display.
To produce an immersive viewing experience, creators behind the event “Wizard of Oz at Sphere” relied on AI tools to stretch the original film to fit seamlessly across the Sphere’s oversized screen.
One AI technique used was character outpainting, which expands an image beyond its original bounds. So in scenes where characters are shown only from the waist up, the characters are given AI-generated legs.
Background images were also expanded. Some shots were reformatted and video resolution was improved across the entire film. The original score was remastered for increased clarity when booming from Sphere’s 167,000 programmable speakers.
The running time for “The Wizard of Oz” was also altered. The film’s original 102-minute length was sliced down to 72 minutes.
All of the changes, including the abbreviated run time, were approved by Warner Bros., per The New York Times.
“The key for us is to maintain the integrity of the original filmmakers’ intent. It’s part of our cultural history. You can’t just take it and do anything with it,” Jane Rosenthal, a producer, said in a YouTube clip shared by Sphere.
She continued, “We talked about doing it in different ways, and we realized that we really needed to do it with AI.”
“Working with Google, we found that the tech is powerful, but it’s the artists working with that tech that makes something like this possible. This is new ground for all of us. We’ve pushed AI further than ever on this project.”
Interactive elements were also added, making the viewing experience more comparable to a Disneyland ride than the standard movie theater experience.
Wind and smoke overtake the audience to imitate a tornado. Flying monkeys hang down from the ceiling and foam apples fall onto the audience. Scents are emitted, fog blankets the crowd and haptic seats add vibrations to pull viewers into the “Wizard of Oz” atmosphere.
The ‘Wizard of Oz at Sphere’ controversy
The 18,000-seat venue sold 200,000 tickets ahead of the experience’s Aug. 28 opening night, per The New York Times. Tickets range from $109 a seat to $349 for the “Witch Ultimate V.I.P. Experience.”
Thousands of those audience members applauded the Sphere for providing an immersive experience with the movie.
One viewer called the experience “absolutely amazing,” per X. Another called it “pure magic,” per X.
On the flip side, others are calling out the reimagined version of the film’s use of AI as a step in the wrong direction for filmmaking.
“I am against AI in so many levels, which has (been) annoying me the most lately is the whole Wizard of Oz movie remake with AI for the sphere.... that thing is TERRIBLE,” one critic shared on X.
Another said the AI alterations made them “sick,” adding, “It’s super gross and disrespectful to the filmmakers and their craft. Classic films shouldn’t be treated that way, especially a timeless classic like The Wizard of Oz,” per X.
Rosenthal defended the use of AI in the process of reimagining “The Wizard of Oz,” claiming AI has previously been used in modern filmmaking.
“Anyone who is talking about this hasn’t seen it, so you’ve got the blind talking to the blind, and they’re upset about AI,” Rosenthal said in an interview with Variety.
“AI in the film industry has been used for many years. It’s been used on ‘Jurassic Park,’ ‘Avatar,’ ‘Benjamin Button.’”
AI’s Hollywood invasion
AI tools have crept their way into modern filmmaking, despite the reluctance of hundreds of actors, musicians, filmmakers and other artists.
Several films nominated and awarded at the 2025 Academy Awards relied on AI for production, such as “The Brutalist,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez” and “A Complete Unknown.”
Following the award show, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences updated its rules for eligibility, voting and campaigning, and acknowledged the growing use of AI in film.
Using artificial intelligence and other digital tools to make a film will “neither harm nor help the chances of achieving a nomination,” the Academy shared in a statement. The update provided a new standard for increased acceptance of AI in filmmaking.
Still, hundreds of actors and filmmakers are pushing for stricter guidelines surrounding AI use in film.
In March, more than 400 Hollywood actors, filmmakers, musicians, writers and others signed an open letter sent to the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, encouraging the Trump administration not to weaken copyright protections for AI, per Variety.
The letter included signatures from Ben Stiller, Paul McCartney, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Simon, Cynthia Erivo, Taika Waititi and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
“We firmly believe that America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries,” the letter said, as reported by Variety.
“AI companies are asking to undermine this economic and cultural strength by weakening copyright protections for the films, television series, artworks, writing, music and voices used to train AI models at the core of multibillion-dollar corporate valuations.”