David Cross' 'Hits' Will Be the First Film Released Pay-What-You-Want on BitTorrent and in Theatres

Matt Walsh stars in Hits.

Louis C.K. had great success back in 2011 offering a new comedy special online at a pay-what-you-want rate. It's now a matter of course, especially for indies, to pair a theatrical release with VOD. Now comedian David Cross is combining both those concepts for a first-of-its-kind release plan.

 On February 13, Cross' directorial debut Hits, about the offbeat inhabitants of an upstate New York town, will be the first film to be released directly to fans via BitTorrent Bundle. BitTorrent, a form of peer-to-peer file-sharing, is eternally the subject of controversy due to its large role in film piracy. (Basically, people use BitTorrent technology to upload and download pirated movies, music, video games... everything digital, more or less.) BitTorrent goes legit with BitTorrent bundles, which will let fans pay what they want for Hits.

Distributor Honora Productions also plans to release Hits to theatres, with fans again given the opportunity to pay what they want. Funds for this endeavor will come from a Kickstarter campaign; the more money Cross gets, the more cities his film can go to. "We want you to decide how much tickets cost and you pay artists directly, not distributors or studios," Cross writes. "This is an experiment, a first of its kind to see if we can make it more sustainable for both fans and filmmakers."

Hits is also getting a more traditional release, with more traditional prices, involving theatres in New York and LA and usual suspects iTunes, Google Play and Vimeo.

“With the release of HITS, we’re giving audiences what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in and at a price that they choose,” says Honora founder Giles Andrew. “As far as we know, this experiment is the first of its kind and was borne out of an unwavering belief in the film and our hopes for it to reach the widest possible audience.”

Of course, for the experiment to be successful, it will help if the film's good. Take a look at the trailer and see if it's something you might be interested in: