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What was the first movie made to be watched online?
Far Out Magazine identifies Philippe Mora’s 1996 adaptation of Richard III as the first film made specifically for internet viewing, citing Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive. The production is presented as an early example of filmmaking shaped by the technical limits and emerging possibilities of online distribution, long before streaming became mainstream.
The one-hour film covers only Act One of Shakespeare’s play because a full version was too large to show online at the time. It involved 20 largely unpaid actors, was funded by internet entrepreneur Peter Sterling, and cost about US$50,000, largely due to specialist internet equipment. Mora set the adaptation in a pop-art style and incorporated Third Reich footage alongside scenes filmed in West Hollywood.
In short
- Richard III was made for internet viewing in 1996.
- It covered only Act One due to technical limits.
- The production cost about US$50,000.
Explained simply
In the mid-1990s, when the internet was still young and slow, a film director named Philippe Mora created what may have been the first movie ever made specifically to be watched online. It was an adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard III, funded by internet entrepreneur Peter Sterling, and represented an early attempt at filmmaking shaped by the technical limitations of the time.
The full version of Richard III was too large to transmit over the internet in 1996, so Mora's adaptation covers only the play's first act and runs for about one hour. Shot in a pop-art style with a budget of around US$50,000, the film involved 20 largely unpaid actors and required specialist internet equipment, which accounted for much of the production cost.
The film is significant because it predates modern streaming services by more than a decade, showing how filmmakers were already experimenting with online distribution when it was far from practical. It demonstrates an early example of creative work being directly shaped by the technical possibilities and constraints of the internet.