Did Warner Bros. Rip Off Kanye West's 'Cruel Summer' Seven-Screen Viewing Experience?

Back in 2012, Ye debuted 'Cruel Summer' at Cannes. Did Warner Bros. take note?

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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In the middle of the ongoing frenzy of creativity currently reigning down upon San Diego in the form of Comic-Con, a few tweets started to paint the TL with a strong shade of familiarity for some:

With a swift joke of a tweet, it all became crashingly clear —Cannes Film Festival. 2012!

Indeed. At Cannes 2012, Kanye West premiered the short film accompaniment to the album of the same name — Cruel Summer. To kindly correct the tweet above, the film's premiere actually employed a groundbreaking seven-screen viewing experience — with three screens in the front, one on the floor, one on the ceiling, and one on both the right and left sides of the screening pavilion. The experience proved a fruitful partnership between West's own DONDA and noted conceptual design firms2x4 and OMA. In their review of "Cruel Summer," The Hollywood Reporter posited that the immersive seven-screen approach could "completely change the way movies are watched."

So, flattering imitation? Mere coincidence? A sign of delayed influence? As noted by others, Warner Bros. employed a similarly expansive viewing experience during last year's Comic-Con activities — though the sentiment still stands: this is definitely how we all should be watching movies in the year 2015.

 

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