Johnny Depp is entering the cryptocurrency ecosystem by partnering with TaTaTu, a social entertainment platform.
A number of celebrities have attached their names to cryptocurrency projects over the last few years. Most of the time, they do not turn out well. The most recent example is that of Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled being sued for promoting an ICO that turned out to be a scam. That being said, the latest project to bring a celebrity on board appears legit, raising $575 million in a pre-sale earlier this summer. That particular project is TaTaTu, and they’ve brought aboard a huge Hollywood star, Johnny Depp.
Johnny Depp Goes Crypto
TaTaTu is a social entertainment platform managed by Andrea Iervolino and is cryptocurrency-centric. The platform uses tokens, which are traded on the Liquid exchange, to pay users and creators.
The platform is busy creating fresh new content, as well as buying properties outright. It is developing a biopic on Lamborghini that stars Antonio Banderas and Alec Baldwin. The platform recently bought a documentary on William Friedkin, the director of film classics like The French Connection and The Exorcist.
The partnership between Depp and TaTaTu entails that each partner will create new film and digital content in conjunction with the other. Iervolino will do so through his AMBI Media Group while Depp will work under his Infinitum Nihil production company. The two sides originally came together in a movie, Waiting for the Barbarians, that stars Depp and is produced by AMBI.
Will Depp Fully Commit?
This is an interesting partnership. The details of how much content each side has to produce and by when have not been released. Still, it is exciting to have someone as famous as Johnny Depp getting involved in a cryptocurrency-focused platform.
This deal is good for both sides. TaTaTu gets a lot of promotion by having Depp join the program. He’s one of the world’s most recognizable Hollywood stars. As for Depp, he gets a new revenue stream that he’s sorely in need of. He has been involved in a long-running lawsuit with some ex-lawyers/managers, which came about after he apparently blew through the $650 million he had earned during his career (most of which was from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies).
Both sides seem to be enthusiastic about the partnership. Andrea Iervolino says:
Johnny has the ability to conceptualize material in a way that few can, and is unburdened of conventional industry formulas that dictate the projects that get made, traditionally. As we make strides to embrace disruptiveness, Johnny will be a key collaborator with us and we are tremendously excited to back his visions and instincts on stories to bring to life.
For his part, Depp said:
In this era of democratized entertainment, I admire the imaginative ethos of Andrea and look forward to collaborating together in a liberating, progressive manner that will befit the principals of our respective entities.
Hopefully, this will be a productive partnership for everyone. Still, the track record for celebrities and crypto is not great. Ghostface Killah, one of the Wu-Tang Clan, had his cryptocurrency drop in value by 96% after its launch back in January.
What do you think about Johnny Depp getting involved in cryptocurrency? Will it turn out well? Let us know in the comments below.
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and YouTube/@TaTuTu.