The ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ cast is reuniting for an animated series funded by NFTs

Napoleon Dynamite can add blockchain development to his list of skills. Jon Heder, who portrayed the titular character in a 2004 cult classic, is reuniting with three other cast members from the film for a pilot called Cyko KO. The animated project and its Dynamite cast will be supported by an NFT drop on Replay‘s Rewarded.tv platform.

Cyko KO is inspired by a graphic novel written by Rob Feldman, who will serve as the showrunner for the animated adaptation. Both Feldman and Heder have previous experience with NFTs. Feldman tested the Web3 waters with a drop called Cyko Headz, and Heder dropped the “Order of the Tigrons” on the Theta blockchain earlier this year.

Heder is now returning to Theta, where Replay has built its proprietary platforms. The young company — which emerged out of stealth earlier this year, doles out tokens to viewers through a “watch-to-earn” model. To support its financial ecosystem, Replay launched Rewarded.tv, which it described as “the blockchain-powered streaming service.”

Replay’s first NFT drop, which goes live at 4 PM ET

on September 30, will release a collection of Cyko KO Star Cards onto Theta’s ThetaDrop platform. The plan is to use the Star Cards to fund the show’s 12-minute pilot.

“We’re so excited to partner with Rob for our first NFT collection, and we can’t think of a more fitting project than to help bring the world of Cyko KO to life with an animated series,” said Krish Arvapally, Founder and CEO of Replay. “With our first NFT drop, we’re defining the production cycle for web3 projects, decentralizing every aspect of the creative process from funding to distribution.”

Cyko KO will feature the voices of Heder (who played Napoleon in Napoleon Dynamite), Tina Majorino (Deb), Efren Ramirez (Pedro), and Jon Gries (Uncle Rico). A press release describes the show’s titular character as “the fourth-wall breakin’, pinball-addicted, cereal eatin’, motorcycle-ridin’ hero you’ve been waiting for!” Feldman will serve as showrunner through his company Earworm Media. Rocketship Entertainment, Replay, and Verified Labs are producing.