100 Years (film)

Lore & Background

The film was announced in November 2015 by Malkovich and Rodriguez, who teamed with Louis XIII Cognac to create a project inspired by the hundred years it takes to make a bottle of Louis XIII. Although the plot remains a complete secret enforced by a nondisclosure agreement, three teaser trailers—Retro, Nature, and Future—were released on November 18, 2015. According to Rodriguez in a 2019 interview, he initially thought the short film would be a commercial, but after showing it to the producers, they decided it was the one to lock away.

Reader's Guide

100 Years is notable as a deliberate artifact of delayed release, designed to be viewed only by future generations. The film is kept in a high-tech safe behind bulletproof glass that will open automatically on November 18, 2115. One thousand guests worldwide, including Malkovich and Rodriguez, received metal invitation tickets for the premiere, which they can pass down to descendants. The safe was showcased at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and other cities before being returned to the Louis XIII cellars in Cognac, France. A related song, '100 Years,' composed by Pharrell Williams, was performed once at a private party, with a recording promised for 2117.

Did You Know?

• The film is scheduled to be released on November 18, 2115.
• Three teaser trailers were released in 2015: Retro, Nature, and Future.
• The safe containing the film was showcased at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
• A song titled '100 Years' by Pharrell Williams was performed once at a private party.

A Century-Long Marketing Gambit

The film 100 Years was conceived not as a conventional cinematic endeavor but as a promotional vehicle for Rémy Martin's Louis XIII cognac, a spirit that requires a full century to mature. The French company commissioned the project to mirror the patience embedded in their product, resulting in a work that would not be publicly viewable until November 18, 2115. Advertised with the deliberately provocative tagline "The Movie You Will Never See," the initiative turned the mere passage of time into a marketing narrative. Rather than releasing the film to a contemporary audience, Rémy Martin sealed it away, transforming a short picture into a long-term brand statement. The concept positions the movie not as entertainment for today's viewers but as a cultural artifact intended for future generations, making the act of waiting central to its very identity and commercial purpose.

Creative Origins and Enforced Secrecy

Robert Rodriguez has described the film's genesis in a 2019 interview, explaining that he was producing multiple short films for Rémy Martin and completed this particular one first. He initially assumed it would serve as a commercial, but upon presenting the finished piece to the company, they selected it as the work to be locked away for a century, relegating a separate future-themed piece to the role of advertisement. The film is classified as experimental science fiction, written by and starring John Malkovich, who co-announced the project alongside Rodriguez in November 2015. The plot has been kept under strict nondisclosure agreements, and while three teaser trailers—titled Retro, Nature, and Future—were released on November 18, 2015, the narrative details remain entirely undisclosed to the public, preserving the work's mystery as a core element of its appeal.

The Vault and the 2115 Premiere

The physical storage of 100 Years is as much a spectacle as the film itself. The completed work is housed in a high-tech safe set behind bulletproof glass, programmed to unlock automatically on November 18, 2115, the designated premiere date. To mark the occasion, one thousand guests from around the globe have each received a pair of invitation tickets crafted from metal, designed to be passed down through generations until the day the safe opens. The safe itself became a traveling exhibit, displayed at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and in various other cities before being returned to the Louis XIII cellars in Cognac, France. This physical journey of the vault—moving through major cultural venues before settling back into the cognac producer's own storerooms—reinforces the film's identity as both a cinematic object and a branded treasure, blurring the boundary between movie and marketing artifact.

A Broader Culture of Time-Locked Art

100 Years does not exist in isolation within the landscape of time-restricted creative works. Louis XIII Cognac has also claimed that Pharrell Williams composed a song titled "100 Years" for the brand, performed live exactly once at a private gathering, with a recording promised for release in 2117. The project draws clear parallels to other cultural phenomena built around delayed or singular access, such as the Future Library initiative, which commissions works to be published centuries later, and Wu-Tang Clan's 2015 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin, of which only a single physical copy was ever made available to the public. Together, these initiatives reflect a broader artistic and commercial impulse to harness scarcity and the passage of time as creative constraints, transforming the audience's relationship from immediate consumption to intergenerational anticipation.