Westworld’s Luke Hemsworth to narrate VR documentary

Westworld actor Luke Hemsworth is to narrate a new VR documentary that explores one of the world’s most ancient landscapes.

The 1 x 35 Great Kimberley Wilderness is produced by Perth-based White Spark Pictures and transports viewers to Australia’s Purnululu National Park, allowing audiences to virtually fly over the edge of the King George Falls.

The doc has been been filmed using 360-degree 3D VR and will receive its world premiere at the Western Australian Museum in Perth, Australia, on 23 November. It will also roll out to venues outside of Australia in 2025.

The Great Kimberley Wilderness is the first completed VR documentary film from a new content funding partnership that saw the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, the Western Australian Museum in Perth and the Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum in New Zealand creating a AUD$1m fund to invest in three VR films.

The next two shows, currently in development, are: Journey of the Giants, which explores the world of whales; and, The Kermadec Islands, which takes audiences into the marine wonderland of the South Pacific Ocean.

Briege Whitehead, founder and creative director at White Spark Pictures, said: “We are excited to deliver the first film from this game-changing, world-first content partnership and are delighted that our work together is increasingly generating interest from other venues and attractions keen to find cost-effective and scalable new experiences for their visitors.

“In addition, with the recent budget cuts and commissioning slowdown for factual, we are experiencing an upturn in approaches from mainstream documentary producers looking to understand the growing opportunities for VR and how they can adapt their skills.

“As a result, we are now in the process of exploring several interesting new potential partnerships with TV and film producers.”