Tupac Shakur’s Hologram Is No More

This year’s Coachella went off and the late Tupac Shakur, who was murdered almost exactly 16-years ago (September 13, 1996), was part of the reason for its success.

Back in April, the concert festival debuted some crazy hologram technology, showcasing the famous rapper’s image on stage, and boy was it a hit. So much so that the company behind it had huge plans to tour with not only hologram Tupac, but they were hoping to resurrect other music idols from the dead to hologram form, including Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Jackson, and Kurt Cobain, among others.

Unfortunately, this idea and project is not going to happen, at least not right now, and not with the company behind it because according to CNN Money (via Gawker), Digital Domain Media has filed for bankruptcy.

From the article: “It’s an abrupt end for the nearly 20-year-old company, whose founders include director James Cameron. Before its IPO and Tupac tricks, Digital Domain worked on special effects for scores of big movies including Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers and Cameron’s Titanic. The company won an Oscar for its work on reverse-aging Brad Pitt’s character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

“But Digital Domain’s financials have long been a concern. Since the company was typically hired by Hollywood studios on a contract basis, its revenue stream was pretty small. Digital Domain expressed hope recently that expanding the virtual performer business beyond Tupac would be lucrative, as it would be able to get a cut of the ticket sales for such events.”

“Digital Domain wasn’t able to get out of the hole quickly enough. As of June 30, the company had assets of $205 million and debts of $214 million.”

What a bummer! They obviously marked their territory in the film industry, and had great prospects for the music and entertainment fields. I’m sure some company will eventually make this happen. How awesome would it be to attend a concert of a musician that passed away before you were born? It would be surreal.