Should Hollywood make a Crypto Movie in 2020?

A future crypto movie

at the 83rd Academy awards ceremony would have been crazy, as all Oscar ceremonies are. Besides bringing the who’s who of Hollywood elite under one roof, it also marked a celebration of the most acclaimed films of the last year. These included The King’s Speech, Black Swan, Inception, and, of course, The Social network. The Social Network chronicled the creation of Facebook, from an idea in a Harvard dorm room to the internet giant we know today (or knew at the time). The film itself scored eight nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor in a lead role, and won three. Which is why having a Crypto Movie would be a huge step toward full adoption.

Besides being a critical and commercial success (it made over $200 million on a $40 million budget), it was also indicative of how relevant Facebook and its founders were. Getting the ‘Hollywood treatment’ goes beyond just movies being made on a person or subject matter or being name dropped in the latest TV series. First, it acts as a medium for greater exposure to the world.

For many people, their only knowledge of the life of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook is either through a film like The Social Network or from other sources whose ideas are influenced by the media around them. The Hollywood treatment also signifies to the wider world that a thing or person is important, or at least important enough to be immortalized on screen. 

The Significance of Hollywood Adaptations

It’s no secret that Hollywood loves tech and tech-related storylines. From exploring the rise of Social media in The Social Network to a futuristic world where the robots have taken over in The Matrix. Quite frankly, nothing gets Hollywood going like a cinematic exploration of technology and what it can do. 

With that in mind, it is curious that there has, so far, been no big screen (or even small screen) exploration of a crypto movie. In the last decade, particularly, digital currency has seen an explosion in use and this does not seem to be going anywhere. From Bitcoin being more popular than ever to countries even developing their own tokens, the landscape seems just right to create a cinematic offering. At the same time, there are tangible reasons why a film might have not been made. 

Hollywood loves technology but, more importantly, loves technology they can make a compelling story out of. The Social Network could capture audiences with the themes of inter-personal betrayal, college students becoming billionaires, and a dorm idea taking over the world. The Matrix touched on man’s innate fear of the unknown by suggesting that technology could enslave us, not to mention the endless superhero movies that use innovative technology as a launchpad for superhumans in cool costumes and elaborate fight scenes. 

With that in mind, there are a number of possible story lines within blockchain and cryptocurrency that are certainly screen-worthy. Perhaps an ‘inspired by’ biopic on Satoshi Nakamoto, the unknown creator of Bitcoin, a currency war between countries fought with digital tokens or even a heist film carried out across blockchains. Should commitment actually be put into it, cryptocurrency could finally get its very own big-screen treatment. 

What are the Implications?

While the idea of a crypto movie centered around cryptocurrency would be beneficial in itself, it has greater implications than that. There is still a lot of misinformation regarding cryptocurrency in the larger society and many simply understand it as some weird internet money. A Hollywood film that centers around the subject matter will do wonder to educate the public about it.

Even those that have no interest in Silicon Valley usually know that Facebook started in a dorm room. If a majority of the population had even that basic understanding of cryptocurrency, greater adoption can be achieved. By bringing cryptocurrency out of the shadows and exposing it to a wider audience, its message can be seen by non-enthusiasts who do not frequent crypto news sites or deliberately read about it. 

Such conversation being driven could not only lead to more people making use of cryptocurrency but this could, in turn, lead to more pressure on regulatory bodies to address the issue. If only a small handful of people have heard of or make use of cryptocurrency, regulatory bodies can afford to neglect or ignore it. If that number is in the millions, that is not as easily done. 

Is the Industry Ready?

One of the things to be considered before a film or TV series of that scale can be created is whether or not cryptocurrency is ready for such a move. One of the posters for The Social network states that ‘You Can’t Get to 500 Million Friends Without Making a Few Enemies’. At the time that the film was made, Facebook was already one of the most used websites in the world with hundreds of millions of users by 2010.

Facebook’s popularity necessitated the film and not the other way around. As of 2020, there are an estimated 47.14 million crypto wallet users worldwide. Hardly a small number but some might argue that cryptocurrency is simply not yet big enough to warrant a film being made about it. There are arguments to both sides; that a film would bring about public awareness and that cryptocurrency must first grow organically before a film could be made.

However, with the number of cryptocurrency users growing each year and even popular celebrities like Floyd Mayweather launching their own tokens, the need for a film will likely become more apparent. It is obvious that while Hollywood’s attention would be beneficial, cryptocurrency does not need it to grow. Instead, it will likely continue on this path of growth and an eventual film would be the icing on the cake and not the cake itself. 

Conclusion 

As cryptocurrency enters a new age of maturity, it is inevitable that a crypto movie will become more firmly embedded in the public consciousness. After years of being a mostly niche affair, its progression to the mainstream will be the result of immense efforts from those within and outside the industry. As with all cultural shifts, such as the rise of the internet, it will hopefully be immortalized, both within the circles it originated from and on the big screen.

Image via Shutterstock, Writer Tokoni Uti