Alexander McConnell

amcconn@umich.edu
Articles by Alexander McConnell

Plight of the Living Dead: An Update on the Cinematic Saga of “Empire V”

Like its vampiric subjects, the beleaguered film adaptation of Victor Pelevin’s novel “Empire V” can perhaps best be described as neither fully dead nor fully alive. A year after the postponement of its premiere due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the film remains trapped in a kind of cultural netherworld.

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“Empire V” meets Generation “Z”: The Awkward Business of a Would-Be Blockchain Blockbuster in Wartime

With seventy percent of shooting complete and a budget shortfall of 235 million rubles, “Empire V”‘s filmmakers turned to a novel form of fundraising: cryptocurrency. An Initial Coin Offering (ICO) of “Bablos” tokens—named for the money-like substance that the vampires in Pelevin’s novel consume instead of blood—offered fans the chance to partake in a “first of its kind” cinematic crowdfunding project.

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