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Power Rangers looks to VR experience to help kick off promotion

Lionsgate is attempting to drum up excitement for its upcoming Power Rangers reboot by partnering with Qualcomm to bring a cutting-edge virtual reality experience to attendees of the 2017 International Consumer Electronics Show.

The experience touts both Saban?s Power Rangers, which is based on the hit children?s show produced by Haim Saban and rolls out in theatres worldwide on March 24, 2017; and Qualcomm?s  Snapdragon? 835 flagship processor. The experience follows a number of other innovative movie promotion campaigns this year, but is one of the few to actually leverage VR to this capacity.

"Lionsgate is at the forefront of innovative and immersive storytelling backed by a rich portfolio of premium content," said Mike Finley, senior vice president of North America at Qualcomm Technologies. "We're happy to be working with Lionsgate to create an exciting virtual reality experience for Power Rangers fans through the technologies we've implemented on Snapdragon 835."

Saban?s Power Rangers
The VR experience will be on display at the 2017 CES in Las Vegas; plans have not yet been announced to port the content over to VR headsets such as Oculus Rift or mobile-enhanced apparatuses such as Google Daydream, but to do so would be a shrewd marketing maneuver as the onset of the film?s release draws nearer. 

The VR experience is designed to allow audiences to enter the ?Zords??anthropomorphic robots, for those readers unfortunate enough to have not seen Power Rangers?of their favorite Power Ranger, embodying their powers and capabilities.


The Power Rangers 3D graphics and video VR experience will highlight several innovations in the Snapdragon 835 that create what Qualcomm calls a ?superior responsive and immersive experience within the world of the film.? The Snapdragon 835 processor is engineered to allow for high VR frame rates, immersive audio, enhanced 3D graphics with real-time rendering and high-definition video content. 

This can bring a premium immersive experience to mobile and transports Power Rangers fans to the center of the action. 

The Power Rangers VR experience, produced with acclaimed VR and animation studio Reel FX, will be unveiled at the Qualcomm Technologies CES booth #10948 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. The companies also plan on expanding the initiative internationally, including China.

Cinema marketing
The film industry has been engaging with mobile innovation in lockstep with the rest of advertising. Sony Pictures stoked consumers? excitement for the release of Inferno by inviting them to complete labyrinthine puzzles featuring clues hidden in Google?s applications (see story). 

And E! News and Sony Pictures teamed up to spread awareness for the premiere of the latter's animated comedy Sausage Party by giving at-home viewers an inside look at the red carpet event through the eyes of actress Salma Hayek (see story). 


"We're delighted to team with Qualcomm Technologies on a virtual reality experience that will bring fans closer to the action of Saban's Power Rangers as they prepare for the film to arrive on the big screen," said Paula Kupfer, senior vice president, global partnerships and promotions, Lionsgate. "Qualcomm Technologies' cutting-edge VR technology provides a platform for a compelling Power Rangers experience and represents a major evolution in the fidelity and immersion made possible through mobile VR."