Warner Bros Discovery (WBD – Free Report) recently announced that its home entertainment division is releasing its first-ever NFT film, Lord of Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring, in collaboration with content blockchain pioneer Eluvio.
The Lord of the Rings is a series of three epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson, whose franchise was recently bought by the Embracer Group.
This web3 entertainment, which is opening for purchase on Oct 21, allows fans to watch the extended version of the film in 4K UHD, access more than 8 hours of special features, view image galleries, discover hidden AR collectibles and explore themed navigation menus based on iconic locations from the beloved film, as well as own and trade the experience in a community marketplace.
The Eluvio Content Blockchain provides a high-performance, simple-to-use and cost-effective Web3 platform built for content. It enables Web3 native media experiences, allowing publishers and fans to directly enjoy and monetize shows, films, concerts, digital albums, digital collectibles, interactive and metaverse experiences, and more.
This transformation of traditional films to NFT films is a great opportunity for Warner Bros to attract a mass audience and bring a remarkable and engaging experience for them.
Warner Bros Expands Into Web3 Space
Warner Bros has been focusing on diversifying itself into the Web3 space lately.
The Warner Music Group, the mega record label conglomerate recently partnered with the NFT marketplace, OpenSea, to accelerate its artists’ expansion into Web3. This grants Warner Music artists early access to OpenSea products, improved discoverability of the NFT marketplace and grants them deeper engagement and ownership.
Warner Bros also collaborated with the NFT-focused social media platform, Nifty’s, in June and launched a story-driven blockchain program Looney Tunes: What’s Up Block? This has used digital art as a new medium for storytelling, creating a fresh narrative for the Looney Tunes franchise, which has been revealed through NFTs.
Warner Bros has also teamed up with Funko, a toy company to bring another popular pop-culture franchise to life in collectible format. The two firms manufacture physical and digital replicas (NFT) of valuable DC comics for sale exclusively via Walmart. The phygital (physical + digital) combination that includes DC Comics’ The Brave and The Bold collection, consisting of 30,000 NFTs, has been available for purchase from Oct 7.
However, with the rising demand for NFTs, Warner Bros is not the only entertainment company to have launched into NFTs. It faces tough competition from streaming giants like Netflix (NFLX – Free Report) . Netflix and the NFT platform, Candy Digital, joined hands to create a series of digital collectibles dedicated to Season 4 of Stranger Things.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Warner Bros Discovery currently has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Some better-ranked stocks in the Consumer Discretionary sector are Dish Network (DISH – Free Report) and Hyatt Hotels (H – Free Report) , both sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Dish shares have lost 57% year to date. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2022 earnings is up 0.8% over the past 30 days to $2.56 per share.
H shares have declined 11.3% in the same time frame. The estimate for 2022 earnings is constant at 68 cents per share over the past month.
