Meta Is Betting on 3D VR Movies Again, and This Time It Brought Disney+, ESPN, and James Cameron

Around 2010, TV makers told you 3D was the future of the living room. By 2017 the big ones had stopped building 3D sets, and the glasses went into a drawer next to the universal remote. At Connect on Wednesday, Meta made the case for 3D movies at home again. This time the screen sits on your face, and Meta brought Disney+, ESPN, HBO Max, and James Cameron along to help sell it.

Most of the lineup is aimed at Meta VR Glasses, the roughly 100-gram, $1,299.99 glasses that go on sale in spring 2027 (we cover the hardware in a separate post). Some of it reaches Quest owners this fall, and Meta says the deals add up to "the best media lineup of any VR device."

Disney+ in 3D, and Disney movies that leak into the room

Starting in November, Disney+ subscribers in select countries can stream Marvel's The Avengers, Black Panther, and more in 3D, with themed viewing rooms like Tatooine, Avengers Tower, and the Scare Floor. Meta didn't name the countries, and it didn't say which device gets this first. The announcement files it under VR Glasses, but those don't ship until spring, so a November start points to Quest. That would be new. The Disney+ app arrived on Quest last December in 2D only, while the Vision Pro version has offered 3D movies like Avatar: The Way of Water and Avengers: Endgame.

The weirder Disney project is Disney Immersive Cinema by ILM, an app with "VR Enhanced" versions of Avengers: Infinity War and Star Wars: A New Hope. ILM says the movie itself stays unchanged, and in key scenes effects spill out of the frame into the space around you. Engadget reports it arrives next spring for VR Glasses owners, and ILM says it's in development for the VR Glasses plus Quest 3 and 3S. ILM is also building National Geographic: Beyond, which uses stereoscopic 180-degree footage filmed in Africa for Meta's devices. Neither has a release date.

A 3D catalog, a movie store, and Cameron

The streaming list is long: Prime Video, YouTube, DIRECTV, AMC+, Crunchyroll, Plex, ESPN, and Tubi. Peacock, HBO Max, and Paramount+ are offering their 3D catalogs for the first time. Meta says thousands of titles, including 3D favorites from Lionsgate, will be available internationally by the time the glasses launch. Meta will also run its own store with hundreds of 2D and 3D movies to buy or rent, in the US later this year and in more countries by the VR Glasses launch. And James Cameron's Lightstorm Vision will debut "first time in 3D" blockbusters with Meta in 2027, though Meta didn't say which films. Netflix isn't on Meta's list.

Courtside in 8K, plus Draymond Green's therapy sessions

ESPN's "Immersive Sports" streams in 8K with a 180-degree view, starting with college football this year on Meta Quest and expanding to more sports in 2027. Once the glasses launch, Meta promises more than 100 immersive live events a year through MLB, NBC Sports, TNT Sports, and UFC. The nearest date on the calendar belongs to Open Season, a docuseries that follows Golden State Warriors player and four-time NBA champion Draymond Green through therapy sessions during the 2025-26 season. It debuts September 29 in the Meta Quest TV app as the first original from Meta Presents.

Content was never the only problem

3D TV died for plenty of reasons: the glasses, the thin library, and a lot of people who never wanted 3D in the first place. A headset fixes the glasses problem, since you're already wearing them and each eye gets its own screen. Meta's deals go after the library problem. Apple tried a version of this with Vision Pro, which launched at $3,499 with Disney+ 3D and went on to stream select Lakers games in Apple Immersive to local viewers in Southern California, Hawaii, and parts of Nevada last season. On paper, Meta's slate is bigger, with five sports partners instead of one team's regional broadcast. I don't buy that content deals alone sank earlier headsets, though. A big library doesn't fix price, comfort, or a format people shrugged at, and it only helps once you're already wearing the thing.

Most of these promises carry 2027 dates, so judge them next spring. If you own a Quest 3 or 3S, the fall slate (Open Season, ESPN's college football, the US movie store, and maybe Disney+ in 3D) is the cheapest way to find out whether you still care about 3D before Meta asks for $1,299.99.