Sitting in immersive VR chairs made by LA-based Positron, viewers at Yosemite Cinema will enjoy the Yosemite experience narrated by Bryan Cranston this June. Photo via Postron

A Hollywood A-list actor will narrate the Yosemite National Park experience for an upcoming virtual-reality film production that will debut at an Oakhurst theater.

The experience comes as one of the Central Valley’s few remaining independent theaters makes a significant investment in VR.

Bryan Cranston, Emmy-award winning star of Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle, will voice the VR film “Experience Yosemite,” according to Matt Sconce, chief creative officer for Yosemite Cinema, where the film will premiere in June.

“I’ve always felt a strong sense of adventure,” Cranston said in a statement announcing the news. “From a young age I wanted to explore and experience all that this world had to offer. I’ve traveled to a lot of incredible places. But when I first saw Yosemite … my mind was blown. I was awestruck by its natural beauty and felt that everyone in the world should experience it. This experience is the next best thing … it majestically captures Yosemite from discovery to sustaining its natural wonder. I’m thrilled to be a part of bringing this unique experience to the masses.”

“Experience Yosemite” will allow viewers to see and feel the park in a way no one has before, said Sconce. Filmed by Los Angeles production house CityLights, the project places viewers cliffside on El Capitan and around a campfire with John Muir.

 

Climbers used new technology to design 3D layouts of the park in a way never experienced before, said Sconce.

“It’s going to take them not just through the Valley, but also through time and the way that the park came to be and what it’s like now,” Sconce said. “It’s going to be something you can never experience any other way.”

Owners of Yosemite Cinema rented a jewelry store next door and tore down the wall to create the VR theater.

There, they will install 18 chairs created by Los Angeles company Positron. Viewers don VR headsets and the chairs tilt and shift to simulate the journey through the national park.

“We’ve partnered with some pretty heavy-hitters that design virtual reality experiences and chairs that are just magical,” said Sconce. “You feel like you’re floating, you feel like you’re flying, you feel like your underwater. They’re amazing.”

They hope to have everything ready by June.

“Experience Yosemite” will be exclusive to Yosemite Cinema. Sconce said his company partnered with Positron as well as CityLights and Cranston to create the unique experience.

The endeavor was born of a desire to bring something new to the area that focused on the nearby park. While people go on hikes, not everybody can climb El Capitan, said Sconce. This gives people a whole other way to experience the park.

They’ll be able to bring other attractions to the theater as well, including a Halloween experience where attendees try to make it through three haunted houses and get a prize. Another production explores King Tutankhamen’s tomb. Movie productions also send out VR tours to promote new  films, such as the Pixar movie “Planes,” said Sconce.

“There will be nothing like it in the world,” said Sconce. “There are Positron chairs and experiences in other places, but nobody will have Yosemite. Nobody will have this thing custom-made.”