Warner Bros And Cosm Extend Shared Reality Partnership With New Version Of First ‘Harry Potter’ Film
Warner Bros is continuing its partnership with “shared reality” venue operator Cosm, slating a new version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for 2026.
The start date of the Cosm run has not been revealed. Tickets will go on sale in “early 2026,” the companies said Monday. The 2001 franchise kick-off will be re-entering the zeitgeist (not that it ever really left) in the months to come, with HBO Max set to debut its Harry Potter series in 2027. Warner Bros last month announced a global re-release of Sorcerer’s Stone next year to mark its 25th anniversary.
Harry Potter follows Cosm releases of The Matrix and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory in recent months. Produced in collaboration with Little Cinema and MakeMake Entertainment, the new versions of the films aim to take advantage of the Cosm spaces, which feature a screen 87 feet in diameter with greater than 12K resolution. Similar to new exhibition models like ScreenX, the Cosm bookings wrap imagery from the film around the entire space, not just the main screen, with the goal of creating a more immersive experience.
Cosm’s flagship location is in Los Angeles, next to SoFi Stadium. The company also has a site in Dallas and will open next year in Atlanta and Detroit, with Cleveland on tap for 2027. The buildout plan was established in 2024, when the company raised $250 million in financing from backers including current or former pro sports team owners and investors Dan Gilbert, Marc Lasry and David Blitzer.
A like-minded film initiative in Las Vegas (in which Warner Bros is also involved) has put a retooled version of The Wizard of Oz in the Sphere. Last month, Sphere Entertainment said the film had sold more than 1 million tickets and generated $130 million in revenue since its August 28 debut. Studios, IP holders and other stakeholders in theatrical moviegoing are taking note of the film activities at Sphere and Cosm as the movie business navigates a choppy market, with ticket sales well below pre-Covid levels.
The privately held Cosm has not released revenue figures for The Matrix or Willie Wonka. The company’s dynamic pricing model means a lot of variability in terms of what ticket buyers pay for seats. With sports a key driver of Cosm’s business (viewers of the World Series on Fox a couple of weeks ago may recall the live look-ins at viewing parties at Cosm), the movie component is still in an early phase of development. Still, backers are optimistic about its potential.
“Cosm is reinvigorating the movie-going experience, transporting fans into the worlds of their favorite films, and we are thrilled to continue building the experiential cinema category in partnership with Warner Bros Pictures,” Cosm CEO Jeb Terry said in a statement.
Warner Bros Pictures global distribution chief Jeff Goldstein said the team-up with Cosm “continues to redefine what the cinematic experience can be, offering audiences a truly unique way to celebrate these timeless films from the vast Warner Bros library.”
