Sphere update: Watch for Eagles movie, Metallica … Taylor Swift?
In rapid-fire fashion, Sphere Entertainment Chairman and CEO Jim Dolan’s lead spoke to potential residencies and productions and knocked one down.
Appearing at a press gathering before “The Wizard of Oz at Sphere” premiere, Dolan played a form of word association with yours truly to chat of potential Sphere headlining shows, confirming one (Eagles concert film) is all but announced and another (Taylor Swift) is not happening. That stretch, as follows:
Johnny Kats: “How about Taylor Swift?”
Jim Dolan: “Definitely not happening. There are no discussions at all. Love Taylor but definitely, literally nothing going on.”
Kats: “Metallica.”
Dolan: “Nothing to announce, but I’m not going to dissuade that one.”
Kats: “The Eagles’ concert movie.”
Dolan: “Wait and see. We’ve already shot the Eagles show.”
Kats: “Lady Gaga.”
Dolan: “Maybe (chuckles). These are all maybes.”
The lord of Sphere also said Backstreet Boys, which TMZ reported Thursday without confirmation earned $4 million per show, had exceeded his expectations by a long throw.
“Oh, they surprised me,” Dolan said. “I mean, look, I knew there were people who loved their music, and loved them. But they embraced the Sphere technology and used it really, really well, in combination with their music and their performance.”
Dolan said he also detected a characteristic of BSB’s fans.
“They’re crazy,” Dolan said, laughing. “I mean, really crazy.”
During a group session alongside Sphere President and Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Koester and “Wizard” Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Grossman, Dolan confirmed, for the first time the project’s price tag of $100 million.
Earlier reports were $80 million. But Dolan said, “We ended up about 2X over what we were originally thinking,” or (consults calculator) $50 million.
“When you see it,” Dolan said, “you’ll tell me if it was worth it.”
Dolan said the original plan for “Wizard of Oz” was to announce in April, premiere in May. It was a no-go at that time.
“We looked at it in late-March, early April and it was not what we wanted it to be,” Dolan said. Asked what was the issue, he said, “All the AI, the resolutions. After that we doubled up our effects houses, and there were a lot of workers on this project. But the team really came through.”
Dolan was asked what specifically needed to be achieved for “Wizard of Oz” to meet his standards.
“I look at as the artistry first, and I feel that we’re there right,” the exec said. “We’re actually doing more work, probably the next month or two, on it and clean up some things that most people won’t even notice. But other than that, of course, we want it to be a financial success.”
May we recommend …
The “Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns Tour” at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center. A full horn section featuring sax man Marcus Anderson,“Mr. Trombone” Jeff Bradshaw, legendary ‘dancing’ baritone saxophonist Leonardo Pellegrino, (Leo P to you and me) and young trumpet sensation Evan Taylor. This pack o’ talent backs ace incredible vocalist Marcel Anderson. Go to thesmithcenter.com for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
