Kids Just Want To Have FUN!

 Like most of us, children have very short attention spans. Content has to grab them quickly and keep them amused - and that goes double for movies.

Animated films are generally expected to deliver kid fun that satisfy parents as well. The recent, "Sonic The Hedgehog 2" is a great example of this and as such, generated over $400 million globally.

Young kids want FUN movies

On the flip-side is animation that is not kid friendly... such as Pixar films, which are story and message-based. Pixar movies are good but they are not kid-fun movies. They are too complicated in plot and not what parents look for as content for their young children. Understanding a Pixar film means getting up to speed with the backstory and kids don't walk into cinemas knowing all of the ins and outs of the storyline and the plots are confusing for them. An example is the latest Pixar, "Lightyear", which required knowing who Buzz was from a previous film "Toy Story". "Lightyear" grossed about $150 million worldwide.

The upcoming "Minions: The Rise of Gru" is a perfect kid-fun film and I am expecting it to gross as much as the first "Minions" which took in over $1.2 billion globally, 

CryptoFilms Present Huge Upside for Cinemas

Films based upon Web3 components will begin to dominate the box office! 

That's quite a statement for me to make but I truly believe films based upon NFTs, Discords, and metaverses will eventually dominate the cinema box office. The beginnings of this evolution are starting to coalesce and represent a new wave of big-screen viewing.

Reese Witherspoon

Several films based upon NFT collectibles are already in production. The Bored Ape Yacht Club series and the World of Women series will be screened in cinemas by next year. And many more, let's call them CryptoFilms, are in the works. Celebs like Reese Witherspoon, who is producing the World of Women film, are instigating and backing these projects. 

One very interesting CryptoFilm will be a biopic called "The Infinite Machine" which adds a metaverse component to the mix. This film (which is based on a book of the same name) tells the story of Vitalik Buterin, which anyone in the Web3 community knows was the developer of the Ethereum blockchain and the Ethereum crypto coin (the second most valuable digital currency next to Bitcoin).

Vitalik Buterin

Vitalik was 19 when he developed the Layer 1 Ethereum blockchain which has become the blockchain of choice when trading NFTs. He conceptualized the Ethereum blockchain in 2013 which went live in 2015. The film's associated NFT collection (which has already been in two pre-film sales with more to come) is a series of ETH logos from no less than 36 artists from around the globe. These original images are then enhanced (using an auto-imaging program) into 10,499 unique NFTs.

Decentraland, a virtual metaverse that uses an open-source protocol to run its blockchain, is managed as a DAO (a Web3 decentralized autonomous organization). The agreement between Versus, the film's production company, Ridley Scott's Scott Free Productions, and Decentraland envisions that the film and its NFT collection will be developed and integrated into the Decentraland metaverse. 

Lumiere, a Hong Kong/Singapore-based entertainment specialist, will be tasked with developing and integrating the experience of the film and engaging its audiences into the Decentraland metaverse. 

The film industry's outreach into the metaverse will be immense and films such as "The Infinite Machine" will bolster mainstream audiences' further acceptance and understanding of Web3 and all of its many facets. 

Cannes, Not So 'Cheeri' This Year

 

                                       Promenade de la Croisette, Cannes

Cannes is an idyllic place. Picturesque, with a deep-blue sea cascading on a crescent-shaped beach, all surrounded by beautiful resorts, hotels, inns, homes, cafes, and 3-Star Michelins. 

Cannes is the perfect spot for the top-tier glitterati of the entertainment world, rich moguls, jet-setters, and mega-yacht owners to spend a few days enjoying each other's company, back-slapping, and presenting one another kudos and awards. An opportunity to see and be seen by the very top of global media.

                        Women from Argentina protesting that country's abortion law

But, like many things in life, Cannes is but a facade (like a Hollywood set) where behind the scenes lurks a much less tranquil and beautiful side. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending upon which side you're on) this year's festival was festooned with protests, malcontents, and disrupters. 

French women (with a list of names) of those sexually abused since the last festival

Dressed all in black, women from the feminist movement Les Colleusesa walked the red carpet with the names of women who were victims of domestic violence since the last Cannes festival. They filled the air with thick, black smoke to reinforce their claim to be noticed. 

This event took place two days after a topless woman stormed the red carpet protesting against sexual violence. The words, "stop raping us" were written in paint across her abdomen. She ran screaming down the runway until security took her away.

These incidents were just those that got to the red carpet there were many others outside the parameters of the festive.

Cannes ain't what it used to be. But, hey, join the club. Everything in every society around the world is polarized. Everyone has picked their spot on the spectrum and is going with it. Nowhere (and no one) not even Cannes can escape.