The Revenant Director Working With Star Wars Studio on VR Movie About US-Mexico Immigration

Oscar-winning director Alejandro G. Inarritu (The Revenant, Birdman) has started work on a new virtual reality short film that will follow a group of immigrants and refugees crossing the border from Mexico to the United States.

The untitled film was financed by Warcraft studio Legendary and Fondazione Prada, according to Deadline. Star Wars studio Lucasfilm's "immersive entertainment" division, ILMxLAB, is creating the world and its characters.

Teaming with Inarritu for the movie is Emmanuel Lubezki, who won an Oscar for The Revenant. The new VR film is said to have been in the works for four years now.

According to Deadline, the movie will "explore the intense and excruciating experience of a group of immigrants and refugees crossing the border between Mexico and the United States."

There is no word yet on how the movie will be released, though Oculus Rift and HTC Vive seem like they could be possibilities. No release date for the movie has been announced.

Inarritu is one of the first big-name directors to sign up to make a movie for VR, which is still in its early days.

Immigration policy has been one of the big talking points of this US election year. Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has spoken often about his intention to create a wall that runs along the US-Mexico border. After Mexico's president met with Trump earlier this year, Inarritu, who was born in Mexico and remains a Mexican citizen, wrote a piece for Spanish newspaper El Pais in which he expressed his anger and sadness over the meeting.