A Look at Hollywood’s Hottest NFT Movie Projects

Could non-fungible tokens (NFTs) be the saviour of a Hollywood movie industry that appears increasingly bankrupt of original ideas? From endless Marvel remakes to the umpteenth reiteration of the Batman franchise, Tinseltown is way down on originality and NFTs may be the solution.

There have already been movies funded by NFTs and more than one documentary film in the works examining the NFT craze – worth a staggering US$25 billion in trading volume generated in 2021 alone – but movies based on NFT collections could well be the industry’s next hot ticket.

What follows are just a few of the major NFT projects announced to receive the film treatment, as well as those that have signed representation to explore potential movie deals and more:

Aku

Artist and former professional athlete Micah Johnson’s Aku – an African American boy who dreams of being an astronaut – was the first original NFT character optioned in April 2021, just two months after the first Aku NFT dropped. Anonymous Content and Permanent Content, the latter company formed by musician Shawn Mendes and manager Andrew Gertler, will exercise the option.

Aku’s star has grown significantly across subsequent NFT drops, also spurred by the Aku World experiential show held at Art Basel Miami last December. According to Johnson, a former Major League Baseball player, NFT holders may be able to influence the direction of the IP as it expands into the world of film and beyond.

Huxley

Last week, longtime Marvel film producer Ari (Iron Man) Arad and his eponymous studio announced plans to co-produce a cinematic adaptation of Huxley, an NFT comic book project by artist Ben Mauro (Elysium, The Hobbit). Arad will develop Huxley alongside Web3 production studio Feature and Oscar-nominated VFX supervisor Jerome Chen. Mauro’s sci-fi credentials are evident in the trailer below:

World of Women

Last month, actor/producer Reese Witherspoon announced plans to create movies and TV series based on Yam Karkai’s World of Women (WoW) NFT project through her Hello Sunshine production house. In January, World of Women signed with music industry identity Guy Oseary to represent it in such media and product deals. Witherspoon vows that WoW NFT holders will have a say in the creation of projects based on the profile picture collection.

On the ‘Maybe’ List

In October 2021, Yuga Labs announced it had signed with Oseary to explore media opportunities across various potential formats, including film, television, music, and video games.

The deal followed news last August that Larva Labs, creators of the influential CryptoPunks NFTs, had signed with United Talent Agency (UTA) for similar aims. Creative Artists Agency (CAA) has also signed pseudonymous NFT collector 0xb1 – who owns Bored Ape NFTs, among others – to licensing and partnership deals.

In the same month last year, Roman Coppola – scion of the famous Italian-American Hollywood family – co-founded a decentralised film financing platform based on blockchain technology, in partnership with his equally illustrious sisters, Gia and Sofia.