• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

1

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
TechLionsgate

Why Lionsgate is making a ‘John Wick’ VR game

By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
John Gaudiosi
John Gaudiosi
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 14, 2015, 10:19 AM ET
David Lee JOHN WICK PPNY, INC.
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Studio Lionsgate has partnered with Starbreeze VR and developer Grab to launch a John Wick VR shooter game for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR in spring 2016.

Peter Levin, president of interactive ventures and games at Lionsgate, says Lionsgate is very focused on VR, having worked with Samsung Gear VR on a “shattered reality” VR experience for Divergent in 2014.

“We want to help define this new form of content by bringing marquee brands and premium storytelling into an immersive environment,” Levin says. “We think VR will serve to deepen the relationship between games and Hollywood. Consumers need a reason to invest in a headset, which is why we believe that premium content will be an important factor in motivating early adoption.”

In the 2014 film, Keanu Reeves plays John Wick, a retired hitman who seeks revenge after assassins kill his Beagle puppy. The $20 million action movie earned $78 million at the box office and Lionsgate (LGF) greenlit a sequel for a September 2016 release. WEVR has developed a short interactive demo of the John Wick VR game that is currently on the HTC Vive World Tour truck. Both the demo and the game were made using Unreal Engine 4 technology.

MORE: The Walking Dead invade virtual reality

“Virtual reality represents an entirely new form of storytelling and we are very focused on adapting John Wick in a way that leverages all that this medium has to offer,” says Basil Iwanyk, CEO of Thunder Road Pictures, the company that produced John Wick.

When asked if actor Reeves, who was an integral part of The Matrix video games in the past, would be featured in the VR game, Iwanyk said, “We are working on several ideas that we think will really add to the game experience, but since we’re in development, I am not able to say more than that right now.”

“Lionsgate is innovative in that it looks for meaningful ways to extend its IP beyond the screen and, as a filmmaker, it’s great to work with a studio that gives our production team the opportunity to further explore and expand this universe while engaging fans in a new and different way,” Iwanyk says.

Clifton Dawson, CEO of research firm Greenlight VR, expects global VR head-mounted display sales to exceed $140M in 2016 HMD sales, largely driven by low-cost HMDs in China, which have been selling since late 2014.

“We see the availability of popular Hollywood licenses such as John Wick and Adventure Time in VR content as particularly important to the near-term growth and sustainability of the industry,” Dawson says. “That’s because in the absence of an ad-supported revenue models, we think compelling titles will encourage consumers to purchase hardware and directly pay for content. We believe that major Hollywood trademarks will eventually be in VR, since companies with large asset portfolios, such as Sony, Disney, and Fox, are major stakeholders in the industry.”

Sign up for Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology.

For more Fortune coverage of virtual reality, watch this video:

About the Author
By John Gaudiosi
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
AISports
LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
By Catherina GioinoJuly 20, 2026
9 hours ago
A 13-year-old teenage boy looks at an iPhone screen displaying various social media apps.
PoliticsSocial Media
French President Macron backs effort to ban kids under 15 from social media before departing office next year
By The Associated Press and Samuel PetrequinJuly 20, 2026
10 hours ago
Photo of Hugging Face cofounder and CEO Clement Delangue.
CybersecurityAI agents
Hugging Face says it resorted to a Chinese AI model to battle a fully autonomous cyberattack because U.S. model guardrails stymied its defense
By Emily ForliniJuly 20, 2026
11 hours ago
Sumeet Agrawal is VP of Product Management (Data, AI Governance & Context Engineering for Agentic Systems) at Salesforce.
CommentaryAI agents
Salesforce VP on the leaky AI pipeline: why cheaper tokens won’t fix enterprise AI
By Sumeet AgrawalJuly 20, 2026
16 hours ago
Artificial Intelligence technology and futuristic technology transformation
C-SuiteCFO Daily
How CFOs can tell if AI is actually creating value
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 20, 2026
17 hours ago
uk
PoliticsSocial Media
France wants to ban social media for kids — but Brussels says the bill breaks EU law
By Samuel Petrequin and The Associated PressJuly 20, 2026
17 hours ago

Most Popular

Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
12 hours ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
16 hours ago
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
2 days ago
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
Future of Work
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
By Sarah GlodekJuly 20, 2026
23 hours ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, July 20, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 20, 2026
20 hours ago
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
Retail
It’s not just Taco Bell lettuce and possible glass in Pillsbury rolls: Food and drink recall events reached a 6-year year-over-year high
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
20 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.