Suicide Squad and Bright director David Ayer has been tapped to write and executive produce Lollipop, an upcoming, interactive racing series with an NFT component, alongside his Cedar Park Studios partner Chris Long. According to Deadline, who first reported Ayer’s involvement, the series “will invite audiences to actively participate in a narrative written by Ayer as they compete in a virtual racing circuit linked to the plot. The next-generation storytelling experience will combine elements of episodic streaming, gaming and professional sports.” Ayer spent much of last night trying to explain that, in spite of NFTs being involved, the project is not a scam, is not tied to a crypto exchange, and that audiences should wait for more information to come out before they rush to conclusions.
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The series will run for ten episodes and will feature ten races, set around the world, and highlighting local cultures. The races will take place on digital street courses in cities, beginning in Los Angeles, and will incorporate interactive gaming with the story in a way that will allow fans to directly impact aspects of the races.
“With Lollipop, we’re inviting audiences to engage with a story like never before, and Ayer’s deep knowledge of technology and global automotive culture makes him the perfect choice to craft an emotive, action-packed narrative in the professional racing space,” Steven Ilous, founder and CEO of Feature, the mini studio behind the project, told Deadline.
“We’re proud to be partnering with Feature to write and produce Lollipop, a truly first-of-its-kind media experience,” said Ayer. “I look forward to developing plenty of twists and turns in the narrative that will translate into unique challenges in the races ahead.”
Ayer also elaborated on the project on social media, saying that what they have planned is much different from what most people expect from Web3 and NFT-related projects. Acknowledging that the space has been overwhelmed by low-effort, low-value projects and scams, Ayer tweeted that “The way we plan on using the technology could not be further from that. Honestly the bad rep is well deserved. But for me it’s simply one tool in a basket of useful tools.”
Lollipop, which will be built using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5, will deliver photorealism to both the streaming series and adjacent competitive circuit. Oscar-nominated visual-effects veteran Jerome Chen will join the Lollipop production team as VFX supervisor and producer.
“The Lollipop project will break new ground as a digital, interactive media experience,” Chen said. “By producing the series in Unreal Engine 5, we’ll create a dynamic link between audiences and David Ayer’s story. Just as viewers are impacted by events in the experience, their reactions will directly alter the narrative of the storyline.”
