Bigscreen today announced it’s launched a new feature called Bigscreen Cinema, which brings a paid option to its free social VR platform that will let you buy a ticket to watch select 2D and 3D films each week.

Films, which can be seen in either private or public virtual cinemas on the Bigscreen platform, are priced between $4 and $5 (or local equivalent), and can be purchased on the company’s website. Unlike video on demand services, each week Bigscreen will be hosting four different films, which premiere every Friday at 6PM ET (local time here) and start every 30 minutes.

This week’s films include 3D versions of Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon (2017) and Ghost in the Shell (2017), and 2D versions of Star Trek (2009) and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Image courtesy Bigscreen

Upcoming films include Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013), Terminator Genisys (2015), Interstellar (2014), I Love You, Man (2009), Star Trek Beyond (2016), Top Gun (1986), and Terminator 2 (1991), to name a few.

Bigscreen Cinema is launching on all supported platforms today in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, and Australia. Bigscreen supports Oculus Quest, Oculus Go, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and all Windows VR headsets. Find out how to download it for free here.

New theaters are also arriving with the entrance of Bigscreen Cinema, with Star Trek getting a space ship-inspired space and Indiana Jones debuting in an ’80s themed retro cinema.

Image courtesy Bigscreen

Up until now, Bisgscreen has been entirely free. The company is offering these films in partnership with Paramount, and will be announcing additional partnership soon, however this represents the first big steps for the company to begin monetizing its social viewing platform, which already benefits from user-to-user desktop mirroring.

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This built-in feature works extremely well, and effectively lets you share anything you can watch locally with other VR users, thereby creating impromptu viewing parties and attracting like-minded users. The company is also putting special emphasis on its weekly 3D films, as streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video typically only serve up 2D versions.

This follows Bigscreen’s update this summer that brought 50+ streaming TV channels to the platform, which include streams from YouTube, Twitch, Pluto, and Comet. And yes, PSVR support is said to arrive to Bigscreen sometime in 2020, hopefully bringing its full suite of mirroring and streaming features.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Xron

    Glad they are trying to make cash and not asking people to overpay

    Each platform needs to make cash to survive, good luck with it!

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  • Jimmy Ray

    About time. I’ll watch all my films in 3D.

  • gothicvillas

    I will give it a go. BigScreen is great and happy to support dev

  • Finally! I ripped 3, 3D Blu Rays to to watch in Big Screen. One I had to import. I’ve been waiting to rent/buy digital 3D movies. I enjoy watching them with friends in VR. Ironically the first 3D movie we watched together in Big Screen was Ready Play One.

    • MosBen

      Same here. I went through the hassle of converting a 3D movie so I could try it out on the Rift, but I’m not likely to assemble a massive 3D movie library for this. I am, however, likely to watch a rented 3D movie.

      • Watching a 3D movie with friends is fun with Bigscreen. I have only done it three times but that is mostly do to the lack of content. Adding a digital movie store would be a big win.

        • MosBen

          Unfortunately, I still only know one other person that has a VR headset. Hopefully giving people these kinds of uses, and having HMDs of reasonable quality like Quest making VR more affordable will help grow the market.

    • D-_-RAiL

      it’s better with a ripped 3d blu ray because its not Streaming.

      • I would prefer a download to spare me from having to rip the disk. Also I watched the movies with a friend via Bigscreen so they still had to stream it from me. Bigscreen added to ability to have each person stream from a server instead on P2P for certain content. I would like to see this as an option as watching a ripped Blu-Ray with friends can be choppy.

        I’m more likely to buy a digital 3D copy then buy a 3D Blu-Ray as I would need to rip it to watch it any. Also 3D Blu-Ray are getting harder to find. I agree that they are high quality but sometimes I just want to watch a 3D movie in VR with friends.

    • Alex

      what’s the best way to rip 3d blu-ray title to oculus quest ?

      • The first method I tried is a two step process. First decrypt the disk with MakeMKV. Second convert it to a SBS video using BD3D2MK3D. It was a bit of a pain so I tried the trial for DVDFab to do it in one step. Sadly I do not have plans to do it often so I did not buy it. MakeMKV is also only free while it is in beta. If you have 3D Blu-Rays give them a shot. It is a bit of a hassle, however.

        • Alex

          Thanks for your reply! Actually the method MakeMKV and BD…R2D2 was the one I tried, but wasn’t even able to rip through MakeMKV, I had it running like 2-3 hours and it was still below 10% of progress so… stopped there and I’m waiting for a better and faster way to rip/convert 3D bluray for Quest. Hope it comes soon, I really want to watch Avatar again :D

  • Mei Ling

    Small steps for now and provided this catches on Bigscreen could be what Netflix is for flatscreens :)

  • Trenix

    VR is not good enough to watch movies in yet, unless they’re intended for the VR experience. Not interested.

    • impurekind

      Yes, it is. I’ve watched many movies in my Rift and thouroughly enjoyed it (you just have to sure you select movies in the highest possible resolution). For example, The Lion King 3D (the original animated movie but in 3D) looks totally gorgeous in my Rift and the 3D effect is amazing.

      • MosBen

        I tried watching a 3D movie in my CV1 Rift, and I must say that while I’m not the kind of person that harps on the need for ever increasing screen resolution, the screen door effect was significant enough that I couldn’t really enjoy the movie, even if the 3D effect was really nice. That said, I’m confident that the screens in all of the second generation HMDs like Quest, Rift S, Cosmos, and Index are good enough, and I look forward to trying this on my Quest.

        • johngrimoldy

          I’ve been watching movies on my Vive for over 2 years. Since I also have an HD projector and a 150″ screen, I’ve always been highly sensitive to the mostly noticeable screen-door effect on the Vive. Yet VR is simply easier to set up.
          I got an Index a few months ago and the difference is pretty significant. I only set up the old-school projector when having company over to watch sporting events or movies.

          • MosBen

            We have a nice-sized TV that is our primary flat screen entertainment. And that’s always set up, so VR is a bit more of a chore to get going, though not really a big challenge when we’re talking about, say, the Quest. Hopefully watching movies in VR takes off more once more people have HMDs, and specifically when there’s more than one in my house.

  • Ardra Diva

    3D movies are actually cool in VR theater apps. The images really leap off the screen. I know it’s strange since you have a visor on, but you’re really aware that you’re seeing 3D without the smoky glasses.

  • Mike549

    Will definitely support them, especially the 3D titles. I love watching movies in VR theaters. It’s so much more immersive than on even a 4K TV. Once the movie starts I don’t notice the resolution. It’s at least DVD quality anyway, which is something we enjoyed for years, but this time it’s on a giant movie screen in a theater surrounded by other people (bots but still).

  • Brad

    Never tried a 3D movie in VR. Are there any other platforms that support it besides this?

    • Several players support Side-By-Side 3D videos like DeoVR, Skybox, and even Bigscreen. Bigscreen has a side by side mode that works with any full-screen content. For example, you can use a Youtube video or photo. Just keep in mind that your full monitor view will be switch to this mode regardless of what is on your desktop. This can be disorienting until you learn how to switch back and forth. Put the content into full screen, switch to SBS mode, then switch back before you close it.

      Here is a YouTube sample. You can find more by searching something like “SBS Trailer” https://youtu.be/s2jNqg80CT4

      Here is a site with 3D photos. Both Full Screen and 3D TV modes work: http://phereo.com/featured

  • sfmike

    3D movies look great in VR and lose no brightness due to polarized glasses. So nice to have the option as theaters in my area are stopping 3D movie presentation.

  • impurekind

    Can I pause updates on this app only?

    I want to preserve it now before they update me out of being able to actually use it without paying for whatever.

    I mean, I already use it to watch my movies anyway, both 2D and 3D, and I don’t need to pay for such additional stuff. All the extra TV channels and the like were just more bloat too imo.

    • Roskilde Experience

      Hey. dEEPZoNE here. Bigscreen will always be free as far as i know. The cinema viewings are a offer you can choose to use or not. The public rooms will still be there as always :)

  • Foreign Devil

    Is there an option to remove the theatre box and just experience full screen?

  • MosBen

    This is great. I love 3D movies, and with no 3D TVs on the market it’s a bummer that after seeing a 3D movie in the theater you’re not likely to ever experience it that way again…until now! I really hope that this is successful and eventually other vendors start releasing more and more 3D movies for use in VR.

    • johngrimoldy

      Consider getting SimpleVR Player for 3D movie watching. It’s been out for years and is the best VR Video Player I’ve tried (for 2D and 3D). While I can’t exactly condone using BitTorrent to acquire rips of 3D content, it’s an option to acquire movies and such.

      • MosBen

        We’ll see. As neat as the ability to watch 3D movies is, it’s something that I’ll probably get into more if/when we have multiple 2nd generation or later HMDs so that my wife and I can watch them together.

  • ale bro

    but i can watch regular and 3D movies for free in VRChat already!

  • Mateusz Pawluczuk

    Was super stoked for this and went to buy a ticket but unfortunately due to licencing constraints it’s “Available in the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Australia, and Japan.”

    Hopefully they can expand and include all of EU as well as South Korea, Hong Kong etc.. Generally anywhere where you can get Oculus first party.

  • Anvi Jessica

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  • nevaeh

    hey i am new and ready to learn

  • Benky

    Hlo all