Honora Production’s Hits, the David Cross dark comedy that premiered in Sundance one year ago, will be released via BitTorrent Bundle.

The film will open on February 13 in what Honora founder Giles Andrew described as an unprecedented distribution agreement.

Viewers will also be able set their own pricing in theatres at pay-what-you-want screenings throughout the US and Canada and on VHX.

This will coincide with a traditional theatrical release in New York and Los Angeles as well as digital launch on iTunes, Google Play, Vimeo and other platforms.

Hits takes place in a small town in upstate New York populated by people who trade in unrealistic expectations.

“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,” said 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.”

“Hits marks the first feature film and pay-what-you-want project to be released as a BitTorrent Bundle,” said Straith Schreder, director of content strategy at BitTorrent.

“And it marks a way forward for distribution: a sustainable model for directly reaching and engaging 170m fans around the world online, and in theatres, on your own terms.”

Cross has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise supplemental funds to open his feature in as many cities as possible.

“For me this is all about offering as many fans as possible the opportunity to see this film,” said Cross.

“What we would do with the money we raise here is go out to a number of different cities, rent and pay for a theatre, the staffing, marketing, and then fans can pay what they want to see the film. The more money we raise, the more cities we can go to.” 

Andrew, Ryan Brooks, Cross, Charles Denton and Jessica Latham produced Hits, which stars Meredith Hagner, Matt Walsh, James Adomian, Jake Cherry, Derek Waters and Wyatt Cenac.

Julia Stiles, David Koechner, Jessie Ennis, Amy Sedaris, Erinn Hayes, Michael Cera, Amy Carlson, Jason Ritter and Kurt Braunohler are also featured.

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