The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring NFT Special Editions prizes

Fanatic collectors of Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” will have the chance to purchase limited edition NFT versions of the fantasy epic.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is teaming up with the blockchain company Eluvio to launch “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (Extended Version) Web3 Movie Experience, which will be available in two different editions coming Friday 21st. October at web3.wb.com. It is the first time a major studio has released a film as NFTs, which are unique identifiers that confirm ownership of digital content.

“The Fellowship of the Ring” NFTs are the first to be available in the “WB Movieverse,” a new marketplace that will include other titles from the studio in the future. Jessica Schell, GM and EVP, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said future releases have yet to be determined. On the platform, fans will be able to buy, sell and trade movie NFTs.

WB and Eluvio are minting 999 copies of the Epic Edition, priced at $100 each, and 10,000 of the Mystery Edition for $30. Both allow buyers to watch the extended version of the film (clocking in at 3 hours and 48 minutes) in 4K UHD, along with access to more than eight hours of special features; hundreds of pictures; and hidden AR collectibles. The Epic Edition includes navigation menus for three movie locations – The Shire, Rivendell, Mines of Moria – along with location-specific key art. The Mystery Edition includes one of them, assigned at random. The Epic Edition also includes additional image galleries that are not in the Mystery Edition.

“First and foremost, we’re always looking for ways to delight and surprise our movie fans and collectors, and that’s especially true for ‘The Lord of the Rings,'” Schell said. “It allows fans to experience the film in a whole new way.”

Schell called “The Fellowship of the Ring,” which premiered in 2001, an “evergreen” film with a passionate fan base. The NFT release of the film also comes amid Amazon’s Prime Video release of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” series, so JRR Tolkien’s Middle-earth has been in the zeitgeist of late.

The Extended Edition of “The Fellowship of the Ring” has been available in previous WB Home Entertainment releases, as have all eight hours of bonus video content. In the NFTs, everything is packed into one experience, along with the new AR collectibles (eg a wand) that are hidden in the various locations. Note that in addition to being available for purchase in various formats, “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” is currently streaming on HBO Max (in both standard and extended versions). So why would anyone want to buy one of the NFTs?

WB and Eluvio Call “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (Extended Version) Web3 Movie Experience a “living movie experience,” instead of just a copy of the movie. Warner Bros. “can customize content for each NFT – to make it more of a gaming experience over time,” said Michelle Munson, CEO and co-founder of Eluvio.

As for how Warner Bros. deciding on the number of NFTs to mint for this release, Schell explained, “It’s that balance between wanting it to be available to fans and also having a certain level of scarcity and exclusivity.”

To purchase one of the NFTs, users must create an Eluvio media wallet that acts as a digital vault and allows consumers to stream and purchase content. “Fellowship of the Ring” NFTs can be purchased via credit cards or cryptocurrency wallets.

Eluvio’s Content Blockchain enables Web3 native media experiences, and the company claims it provides a “significantly more carbon-efficient alternative” to other platforms for digital asset management and NFT mining. With the Lord of the Rings release, the core digital assets of the experience along with derivative NFTs are all on the blockchain, not just the token itself (NFT). This means that smart contracts and content experiences can be updated dynamically over time.

Here is an image of the Rivendell image gallery included in the “Fellowship of the Ring” NFT special editions: