Dope may be an upcoming indie comedy from Open Road Films, but its arrival in theaters will be big. It is now the first film to let moviegoers use Bitcoin to purchase tickets, TheWrap reports.
Consumers can now buy tickets using Bitcoin on MovieTickets.com and at more than 900 theaters in the U.S. through the payment platform GoCoin. This will help process each transaction similarly to credit card purchases, according to TheWrap.
Though Dope might not be the most technologically-innovative film to be hitting theaters this summer, it's actually very fitting that this indie would be the first movie to allow the use of digital currency for ticket purchases. The film is a coming-of-age tale about a teen named Malcolm who is a '90s hip-hop geek that doesn't really fit in with the rough-and-tumble crowd of his neighborhood. It makes sense that Open Road Films would use a movie that encourages viewers to let their freak flags fly to forge a new path in the film industry. Modern-day technology also plays a prominent role in Dope with characters making references to the iPhone, YouTube and, of course, Bitcoin.
"Bitcoin is an integral part of 'Dope' and we could not be more excited to bring this unique new opportunity to moviegoers," Open Road Chief Marketing Officer Jason Cassidy said in a statement, as reported by TheWrap.
Though Bitcoin is far from being mainstream at this point, being able to purchase movie tickets with this digital currency could certainly help it become more widely used. Big companies like Microsoft, Dell and Expedia all already accept Bitcoin as payment, albeit through third-party processing platforms. Who knows? Movies could help give Bitcoin a bigger audience.
Dope opens in theaters June 19.
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