The “KillRoy” NFTs will be available sometime in the next three months on the Legendao platform. They’ll include the movie, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, a commentary track, and exclusive art. Viewing access to the film will be unavailable to anyone else without the special “crypto key” the NFT provides. At this time, this is the only planned distribution method for the film — Smith fans shouldn’t count on being able to catch it in a theater or on streaming. Smith revealed the “KillRoy Was Here” trailer way back in summer 2020 at virtual Comic-Con. The titular character is based on the “Kilroy was here” graffiti phenomenon that dates back to the 1940s: A doodle of a bald-headed man peeking over a wall with his enormous nose most prominently extended over the wall.
Smith compared the film to the 1982 George A. Romero anthology “Creepshow” or Brad Miska’s 2012 “V/H/S.” The trailer revealed goofy horror, with children saying cursed chants, an alligator hunter, an old woman with a weed-grow operation, a pedophile priest, and plenty of gore. The film has had a storied path to release. Co-written by Smith and Andrew McElfresh to originally center around the activities of Krampus, the script was tweaked after Michael Dougherty made a movie about the folklore character. Smith started working on “KillRoy” with students from Ringling College of Art and Design before he had a heart attack in 2018. After recovering, he shelved the film as he made and released “Jay and Silent Bob Reboot” in 2019. The “KillRoy” NFT additionally offers the opportunity for art collectors to become artistic collaborators in creating the sequel to the film, per an official press release.
“When you buy the KillRoy NFT, you get exclusive access to the movie,” Smith said in a statement. “But more importantly, the specific version of KillRoy you get is YOUR KillRoy to do with whatever you want: Make your own movie, turn it into a cartoon, license him for lunchboxes! We started the story, now YOU get to continue it with your very own version of our titular character! And along with a brand new chapter I’ll shoot next year, the shorts and animation that the KillRoy NFT owners create with their own KillRoy’s will make up the bulk of our sequel anthology. The KillRoy NFT offers an exciting and unique opportunity to go from art collector to collaborating artist!” Hollywood has begun to embrace NFTs over the last year amid a frenzy over the blockchain-based technology. Filmmakers and execs see NFTs as an opportunity to give creators a new way to interact with their audiences, raise money, create new distribution windows, and allow fans to become part of the creative process. Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine in February signed a partnership with NFT collective World of Women to turn its characters into movies and TV shows, while the Anthony Hopkins-starring “Zero Contact” is being distributed via NFT in addition to a theatrical release from Lionsgate’s Grindstone Entertainment.
Cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the blockchain technology that underpins them have attracted as much criticism as evangelism. Proponents say the tech can help revolutionize everything from healthcare to entertainment, while critics have raised alarm bells about blockchain’s environmental toll and compared crypto to unregulated securities. SCRT Labs, which owns the Legendao platform, previously collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on NFTs of the “Pulp Fiction” script. “Digital sharing and streaming no doubt revolutionized the entertainment industry, but they also caused piracy issues and profit loss for creators. Through partnerships like ours with Smith and Tarantino, Legendao can work alongside creators to develop projects that they can share without losing ownership. It’s clear that NFTs are the future of digital content distribution – giving creators more control over their work and a closer connection to their fanbases,” said Guy Zyskind, CEO of SCRT Labs. The NFT launch will take place in Q2 on the Legendao platform. Click here for more information. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
