Atlas9 bends reality inside a '90s theater
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Movie theater in Atlas9. Photo: Abbey Higginbotham/Axios
A 45,000-square-foot art labyrinth is opening next week in Kansas City, Kansas, filled with noir hypnotists, scavenger-hunting animals and arcade rooms that look like they glitched out of 1995.
Why it matters: The $26.7 million project called Atlas9 is positioning Kansas City as a destination for the booming world of narrative-driven immersive art, a field dominated by heavyweights like Meow Wolf in Denver, Las Vegas and Dallas.
The big picture: Axios got an exclusive tour and learned about all of the magic that goes into making a surreal movie theater come to life.
- Guests are recruited as "agents" by a fictional agency — part "Ghostbusters," part "Men in Black" — to stabilize the strange activity. Every corner has a backstory, from fake film posters to a hidden speakeasy and even a pizza parlor.
💭 Abbey's thought bubble: The pizza parlor looks exactly like a '90s Pizza Hut. Think stained glass lamps, carpeted floors and booths that look well-used.
- There could be an argument that it looks like a modern-day dive bar, too.
Behind the scenes: Built by Kansas-based Dimensional Innovations with partners Swell Spark and Quixotic, Atlas9 transforms a fictional multiplex into an interactive playground. This place is huge.
- Guests explore "forgotten films" brought to life, from scavenger hunts with colorful creatures to film noir hypnotists wielding crystals.
- Wireless-connected wristbands unlock four different storylines and many puzzles across more than 70 "anomalies," letting visitors shape their own adventure.
- Quixotic stages aerial acts and live shows in a 240-seat auditorium.
What they're saying: "When people say, 'I can't believe they thought of this. I can't believe they made this,' that astonishment is the fun," Dimensional Innovations director of engineering Brandon Wood, who helped design a projectionist character's workshop, tells Axios.
- "This place will never be finished, only abandoned by the design team. We never want to stop," Randall Statler, executive creative director of interactive and technology at Dimensional Innovations, tells Axios.
- He called the five-year project a rare chance to showcase KC talent in Dimensional Innovations' own backyard, after decades of work on projects like SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, the Children's Museum of Indianapolis and the Las Vegas Sphere.
What to expect: Tickets run $30–$40, with timed entry every 30 minutes. It's closed Mondays and open 2–10 pm Tuesday–Thursday, noon–11 pm Friday and Saturday, and noon–8 pm Sunday.
- Bookings cut off 80 minutes before closing.
