Eluvio helped Warner Bros. allow Superman superfans to own an exclusive, extensible multi-media experience of the movie. Eluvio’s CEO explains how the web3 solution works and its inherent efficiencies.
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Movie superfans love to go deep into the object of their passion and own something unique relating to that movie. In the past, they could express their interest by purchasing limited edition DVDs with director’s cuts, narration, and out-takes. They could also buy merchandise like movie posters, T-shirts, and action figures. Companies like Disney leaned into this behavior by creating artificial scarcity by offering VHS tapes and DVDs of beloved movies for a limited time.
In the digital world, it has been harder to replicate the approach. People can certainly buy digital movies, but owning a limited-edition movie experience they can also resell has been difficult to replicate. Bundling the movie with other digital collectibles has also been difficult to execute.
The digital world has finally caught up to and surpassed the physical world courtesy of Web3 technology from the Eluvio Content Fabric. The release of the Superman Web3 Movie Experience on June 9 allowed fans of the 1978 movie to own a unique expression of the classic film. And I interviewed Eluvio Co-founder and CEO Michelle Munson about the release and its unique power to engage and extend the relationship with movie fans. She also explains how the approach is ultra-efficient. But first…
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Now back to the podcast.
The details of the Superman Web3 Movie experience (3:00)
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, working with blockchain media network Eluvio, released two versions of the Superman Web3 Movie Experience:
- The Standard edition included the Superman: The Movie Theatrical version, previously released special features, and an image gallery with stills and behind-the-scenes pictures for $30.
- The premium edition included everything in the standard edition, adding directors and extended TV cuts of the movie and a more extensive image gallery. The edition came in three separately available variations – Truth, Justice, and Hope – with a rendering of Christopher Reeves as Superman by one of three DC artists. It cost $100.
Both editions included access to the video in 4K HDR resolution via a dynamic menu based on iconic locations from the film, like Superman’s ice palace and Lex Luthor’s lair. Owners can sell the Experience in a community marketplace.
There was one other thing that came with the purchase. DC3 is an NFT-based digital comic book collectibles store. As part of the Superman Web3 Movie Experience, purchasers also received a voucher code for one of three randomly selected DC3 Super Power Pack: Series Superman comics from the DC NFT Marketplace.
Warner Bros. created scarcity by tightly constraining the availability of each edition. The Standard edition was available for one week, starting June 9 at 8 AM Eastern and ending June 16 at 7:59 AM. The Premium edition was only available for 24 hours, from June 9 to June 10. However, some Warner Bros. NFT owners got early access to purchase either edition on June 8:
Okay, now that you understand what Warner Bros. and Eluvio delivered, let’s get on with the interview with Michelle Munson, co-founder and CEO of Eluvio.
Interview with Michelle Munson (5:40)
Ms. Munson explains how some of the Superman Web3 Movie Experience details are implemented on the blockchain. She
also explains that the Experience can be extended later.
On creating scarcity and rarity (9:30)
The Eluvio Content Fabric makes the digital edition special to a particular purchaser and guarantees the scarcity metric. It can also tie content experiences to special privileges.
The technology allows interactive metaverse-style experiences (12:30)
Interactive metaverse-style experiences can be easily and repeatably created for the Experience delivered by Eluvio.
Efficient delivery of the assets (14:30)
The way media is streamed today requires many different versions of an asset to be created, stored, and delivered. Ms. Munson explains how the Eluvio Content Network vastly simplifies the delivery chain of the asset, which reduces energy used in the delivery chain. She also explains other efficiencies that a web3 approach brings to media delivery.
