Nicolas Cage's next movie is coming to virtual reality first

If anyone can give the VR entertainment business a shot in the arm, it's Nicolas Cage.

The cult hero actor's next movie, The Humanity Bureau, is coming to theaters and video-on-demand in April, but it'll debut more than a month before that on unspecified VR platforms. Sort of.

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The movie, which is a near-future science fiction tale about global warming, will release "as a standalone episodic virtual reality series [called] The Humanity Bureau VRevolution," according to a report in Variety. It's just not clear what that means, exactly.

Producer Kevin DeWalt told the trade magazine that The Humanity Bureau was shot in three formats: standard theatrical, "Barco Escape" theatrical (a gimmicky three-screen setup), and VR. His comment suggests that you'll be able to watch the full movie in VR, but that isn't quite it, apparently.

Variety notes that VRevolution is "based on" the main film, and that it "takes the user through alternative storylines that co-exist with the feature film, but can be viewed as standalone episodes." Whether this means you're watching scenes in the movie from, say, an individual character's perspective or seeing completely new and original content derived from the theatrical cut's storyline remains to be seen.

Really, the important takeaway here is that you'll be able to get up close to Cage's acting in a virtual space. That should be exciting news to anyone who appreciates the veteran actor and internet hero.

In The Humanity Bureau, Cage plays a caseworker for a government agency that roots out unproductive members of society and banishes them to a colony known as New Eden. There's something shady going on at the agency, however, and Cage sets out to uncover its secrets as he always works to protect a woman (Sarah Lind) and her child (Jakob Davies).

The Variety story doesn't mention where or how you'll be able to view The Humanity Bureau VRevolution, though it's a safe bet that Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, at the very least, are both in the mix. The VR series launches on March 2, and the theatrical/VOD release follows one month later, on April 6.

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