Cryptocurrency Gets Its Own Comedy In “Bitcoin” – the Movie

Bitcoin is serious business, but not so serious that it can’t afford to laugh at itself. It was inevitable that someone would commission a bitcoin movie sooner or later, and in the event that honor has gone to Christian Cashmir. The little known filmmaker is producing “Bitcoin”, a comedy romp that looks set to tick off every cliche in the book.

Brace Yourselves: Bitcoin Banter is Coming

Bitcoin has had plenty of screen time this year, but has yet to grace the silver screen. News segments and the odd documentary, while attesting to bitcoin’s meteoric rise, lack the glamor of a full-length feature. Christian Cashmir is on a mission to set that right with his forthcoming movie, simply titled Bitcoin. The eponymous flick looks like it’s going for the low hanging fruit and obvious laughs based on what plot points have emerged so far.Armed with 20 guesses, the average bitcoiner would probably venture that a bitcoin comedy might entail a discovered wallet containing millions of dollars in BTC. That’s the precise premise of the Bitcoin movie, which on paper sounds uncannily like the recent bitcoin episode of The Big Bang Theory, in which a similar plot unfolded.

The premise might be obvious, but whether the movie soars or flops depends largely on the power of the script and the quality of its cast and director. With enough in-jokes and self-deprecating humor, Bitcoin the movie might get the thumbs up from the community it’s modeled on. Whether mainstream audiences will get the jokes is another matter.

Bitcoin is a Joke

It would be premature to criticize the Bitcoin movie at this stage, even if its story of two down-on-their-luck brothers who try to sell a bitcoin wallet worth $20 million on the black market sounds extremely cliched. Indie producer Lauren Cribb will be assuming the reins and Theo Vonn will be starring. The actor and standup comic will be making his big screen debut – as will filmmaker Christian Cashmir.“The plan is to start shooting the film in the last week of April in New Mexico,” he told MarketWatch. “But then two weeks ago Bitcoin went up to $19,000 and I thought maybe we should think about going into production faster.”This is the risk faced by productions that focus on the price of bitcoin rather than what it does. The Big Bang Theory’s bitcoin episode encountered the same problem, quoting 1 BTC as being worth $5,000 on the show. By the time it had aired, that figure had almost doubled.Cashmir is adamant that the comedy will examine the digital currency from all angles, however, saying:

Our film is an entertaining comedy but it’s also so relevant in terms of explaining what’s going on with money and the disruption of technology. It explores the good and bad side of Bitcoin, how it can impact the future, but we also show the dark side.

The script was written by Brent Craft who previously wrote and directed producer Lauren Cribb’s movie “Lady-Like”, which bears the tagline “Girls will be girls”.

Boys Will Be Boys

Bitcoin the movie will be set in Arizona, where the two brothers at the heart of the tale will uncover their cache of cryptocurrency and then embark on an epic quest to sell it to the highest bidder. Presumably a plot in which they simply cashed it out on Localbitcoins.com at $5,000 a week for life would have been less entertaining. Given that Bitcoin is only an indie flick, it would be premature to assert that it is evidence of bitcoin reaching Hollywood.Despite its comic slant, the film can lay claim to a degree of authenticity at least: some of its producers profess to have invested in bitcoin, and its actors claim to have an affinity for the virtual currency. In the age of the ICO, what’s surprising is that the filmmakers haven’t plumped for a crowdsale to fund the release. Cashmir and his team are now on a race to get the film released while interest in bitcoin is at a crescendo – and presumably while the valuation of the bitcoin wallet at the heart of it all is still accurate. When the film launches, the bitcoin community will be praying that the comedy caper induces more laughs than facepalms.