CryptoPunks is one of the biggest things in NFT crypto collectibles, with the Ethereum-based pixel avatars—released in 2017, well before this year’s NFT market boom—recently surpassing the $1 billion mark in total transaction volume to date.
What’s the next potential stop for the CryptoPunks, then? Hollywood.
Today, United Talent Agency (UTA) announced that it has signed Larva Labs, the development duo behind CryptoPunks, along with fellow NFT projects Meebits and Autoglyphs. The agency will represent Larva Labs as it pursues projects based on its original properties in film, television, video games, and other entertainment platforms, along with publishing and licensing opportunities.
“We are excited to work with UTA for the benefit of the entire community connected to our projects,” Larva Labs co-founder Matt Hall told The Hollywood Reporter. “Not only for the exciting opportunities to bring them wider exposure, but to help protect their growth and value for the long term.”
CryptoPunks is a set of 10,000 pixel art avatars that were randomly built from a pool of dozens of possible traits. An NFT is a type of token that acts like a receipt or a deed of ownership for a digital item, and in this case, it affirms ownership in a pixelated person, zombie, alien, or ape with various attributes and accessories. No two CryptoPunks are exactly alike. They’ve also influenced a host of other profile picture NFT projects, including Bored Ape Yacht Club and Pudgy Penguins.
As the wider NFT market exploded in popularity earlier this year, netting $2.5 billion in trading volume in the first half of 2021, so too did demand for CryptoPunks. That demand has accelerated in recent weeks, and CryptoPunks alone has now generated $1.17 billion worth of Ethereum in trading volume to date, according to CryptoSlam. The most affordable CryptoPunk NFT available for purchase right now starts at over $407,000 worth of ETH. Even financial giant Visa recently bought a CryptoPunks NFT.
Larva Labs’ Meebits are 3D voxel-based avatars in a similar spirit to CryptoPunks, and they are intended for use in future metaverse and online gaming worlds. Meebits just launched this May with 20,000 avatars, but has already accounted for $191 million worth of trading volume to date.
Meanwhile, Autoglyphs is a generative art project that predates the recently-surging Art Blocks, but it’s limited to just 512 pieces. Autoglyphs has generated $16 million in trading volume to date, including multiple single NFT sales above $1 million apiece worth of ETH.
The NFT world only caught widespread attention earlier this year, but this isn’t the first instance of Hollywood and NFTs crossing paths. Original NFT character Aku by artist Micah Johnson has been optioned for a feature film, for example, with plans to let his community of collectors help shape the growing intellectual property.
Meanwhile, animated series Stoner Cats—featuring married actors Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher—recently used NFTs to fund its first season of episodes, which will only be distributed to token owners. And in May, Fox Entertainment announced the formation of Blockchain Creation Studios, which will produce an NFT-centric animated series called “Krapopolis” from “Rick and Morty” co-creator Dan Harmon. Fox will pump $100 million into its NFT-related initiatives.
