Rock Band releasing Rush album for download
With nearly 40 gold and platinum records on their walls, Rush have clearly conquered the world of music. Now the Toronto-based rock legends are looking to dominate another industry: video games.
Harmonix Music Systems announced on Thursday it will release Rush's 1981 classic album Moving Pictures for download to its popular Rock Band title, where gamers play plastic instruments in time with the songs on screen. The entire seven-track album will be available to Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 owners on Tuesday for about $11, or 880 Microsoft Points, the currency used by Microsoft for its console. Gamers will also be able to download individual songs for about $2 each, or 160 points.
Harmonix has made dozens of songs available to download for Rock Band since the game's release in November, but Moving Pictures is just the fourth full album, following releases from Judas Priest, The Pixies and The Cars.
Moving Pictures is likely to sell better than previous album releases as Rock Band devotees, as well as the game's own designers, have shown a particular affinity for Rush. The game's online message boards have been flooded with demands for more material from the band since the title hit stores.
Rock Band was originally released with a cover of the band's biggest hit, Tom Sawyer, from Moving Pictures, with four more tracks — two versions of Working Man, Limelight (also from Moving Pictures) and Closer to the Heart — eventually made available for download.
Limelight and the first version of Working Man were released as covers, but the later version and Closer to the Heart were master tracks featuring the actual band, illustrating the clout Harmonix now has with the music industry. A few years ago, Harmonix had difficulty getting bands to license master tracks to its Guitar Hero series of games. But over the past year or so, the Guitar Hero franchise — now owned by Activision — and Rock Band have exploded in popularity, putting the game publishers firmly in the driving seat.
Bonanza for game publishers
All of the downloadable Moving Pictures songs will be master tracks, including Tom Sawyer and Limelight.
Sales of downloadable tracks have also proved to be a bonanza for the game publishers and bands alike — Harmonix says it has sold more than 20 million songs since Rock Band launched.
Andy Curran, artists and repertoire manager for Anthem Records, Rush's label, says there were also initially some security concerns over supplying game developers with master tracks. Some bands had seen their masters leaked out.
"There has been a large concern about letting the master tapes going out to anyone," he says. "When we passed that hurdle, and they could give us a guarantee that these wouldn't leak out … then we got the green light."
Curran says the band was an easy sell on the Guitar Hero and Rock Band as the games are turning a whole new generation on to their music.
"They thought it was fun and immediately embraced it," he says.
In a video interview on the game's website, the band members admitted to being rookies at Rock Band but said they were impressed by its popularity.
"I don't have a set-up at home," said singer and bassist Geddy Lee. "But my kids and my friends love it."
Guitarist Alex Lifeson joked that while playing the game might be the next best thing to actually being in Rush, there are still some aspects Rock Band can't duplicate.
"To simulate the feeling you need to get about two hours sleep for a week and a half," he said.
"Make sure you have some people in front of you that are male only," Lee added.
Sony finds "Solace" closer to Thanksgiving
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Harry split the scene, so 007 moved in for the kill.
Sony on Thursday moved its next James Bond film, "Quantum of Solace," back one week to November 14. That move is closely tied to the departure of Warner Bros.' "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from the November 21 release berth.
Just last week, the sixth "Potter" film newly planted its domestic flag on July 17, as executives sought to fill a hole in Warners' summer 2009 slate. The most immediate response to that move was Summit Entertainment's decision to move its youth-targeted vampire film "Twilight" up three weeks into the vacated "Potter" slot.
Now Sony executives -- who had been wishing for a release date closer to Thanksgiving and the holiday boxoffice season for their next Bond release -- have taken "Solace" to a suddenly much more attractive slot. Bond's previous perch, on November 7, was intended to maximize pre-"Potter" playtime.
Scratch that worry.
"'Harry Potter' moving out gave us an opportunity to get a little closer to the holidays, which has always been the traditional Bond spot," Sony worldwide marketing and distribution chairman Jeff Blake said. "Bond has a really good history of not only playing through Thanksgiving but going deep into the Christmas holidays."
Sony unspooled the last Bond film, the Daniel Craig-starring "Casino Royale," on November 17, 2006, and it was still playing in about 1,100 theaters between Christmas and New Year's, Blake noted.
Sony holds worldwide theatrical rights to the Eon-produced Bond franchise, with longtime Bond distributor MGM controlling all post-theatrical windows.
Three other domestic wide releases are set for November 14 -- Fox's Baz Luhrmann-helmed adventure "Australia," starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman; the MGM comedy "Soul Men," toplined by Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac; and Overture's Freddy Rodriguez-starring "Nothing Like the Holidays."
Universal's comedy "Role Models," with Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, also had been set for November 14. But just a few hours after word spread of Sony's move with its Bond film, Universal moved the comedy up one week to November 7, where the Paramount-distributed DreamWorks Animation sequel "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" now represents its sole wide-release rival.
Besides "Twilight," two other domestic wide releases are set for November 21. Those include "Bolt" from Disney -- which always has a big release bowing over the Turkey Day play period -- and DreamWorks/Paramount's "The Soloist," a drama about the relationship between Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) and a violin-playing homeless man (Jamie Foxx).
Bond films tend to get an earlier jump in the U.K., and "Solace" will receive its world premiere October 29 in London, two days before its U.K. opening.
"Prince William and Prince Harry will attend the world premiere," Sony said.
Weekend offers a "Race" to the summer finish line
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Box-office grosses will start to fade this weekend as inevitably as a summer tan.
The comparable period from 2007 rung up less than $109 million, the second-smallest tally of the box-office season. A similarly underwhelming industry performance is likely this weekend, even with four new titles hitting the marketplace in wide release.
Still, one of the market entrants is well positioned to capture the flag of the summer's penultimate box-office session, thanks to relatively weak competition from new releases and holdovers alike. "Death Race," Universal's remake of the 1975 thriller "Death Race 2000," will try to go for the gold -- supported primarily by young male moviegoers -- with a bow in the mid- to high-teen millions.
DreamWorks/Paramount's R-rated comedy "Tropic Thunder" could drop as much as 50 percent or so from its chart-topping opening session. That could find it fetching less than $13 million this weekend while still potentially competing for second place.
But Sony's PG-13 comedy "The House Bunny," starring Anna Faris ("Scary Movie"), also looks likely for the low-teen millions and could outpace "Tropic" if its grosses climb into the midteens, mostly on interest from young females.
Warner Bros.' box-office behemoth "The Dark Knight" likely will finish third or fourth during its sixth frame, with $10 million or so. But two additional wide openers look unlikely to make it out of the single-digit millions.
Rated PG, the Ice Cube/Keke Palmer-starring "The Longshots" -- a family football tale from MGM and Dimension directed by rocker-turned-helmer Fred Durst -- hasn't shown much strength in prerelease tracking. But the topliner usually can deliver at least middle-single-digit millions from his core fan base alone, so a late surge of interest in the film could see it climb just a bit higher during its opening frame.
Fox's PG-13 comedy "The Rocker" might need five days to reach a similar range. Having earned some positive early buzz, the Rainn Wilson-starring comedy unspooled Wednesday to stimulate additional word-of-mouth, but its first-day tally was just $600,000.
The R-rated "Death Race" stars Jason Statham, who tends to be popular with female filmgoers, and tracking also shows appeal among prospective urban moviegoers. Depending on how many females and older men join the film's young-male target group, "Death Race" could represent the weekend's best hope for a breakout performance.
Notable limited releases this weekend include exclusive engagements for Focus Features' comedy "Hamlet 2." The gambit aims to stimulate positive word-of-mouth before wide expansion of the Steve Coogan/Catherine Keener film over the long Labor Day frame.
Weekend offers a "Race" to the summer finish line
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Box-office grosses will start to fade this weekend as inevitably as a summer tan.
The comparable period from 2007 rung up less than $109 million, the second-smallest tally of the box-office season. A similarly underwhelming industry performance is likely this weekend, even with four new titles hitting the marketplace in wide release.
Still, one of the market entrants is well positioned to capture the flag of the summer's penultimate box-office session, thanks to relatively weak competition from new releases and holdovers alike. "Death Race," Universal's remake of the 1975 thriller "Death Race 2000," will try to go for the gold -- supported primarily by young male moviegoers -- with a bow in the mid- to high-teen millions.
DreamWorks/Paramount's R-rated comedy "Tropic Thunder" could drop as much as 50 percent or so from its chart-topping opening session. That could find it fetching less than $13 million this weekend while still potentially competing for second place.
But Sony's PG-13 comedy "The House Bunny," starring Anna Faris ("Scary Movie"), also looks likely for the low-teen millions and could outpace "Tropic" if its grosses climb into the midteens, mostly on interest from young females.
Warner Bros.' box-office behemoth "The Dark Knight" likely will finish third or fourth during its sixth frame, with $10 million or so. But two additional wide openers look unlikely to make it out of the single-digit millions.
Rated PG, the Ice Cube/Keke Palmer-starring "The Longshots" -- a family football tale from MGM and Dimension directed by rocker-turned-helmer Fred Durst -- hasn't shown much strength in prerelease tracking. But the topliner usually can deliver at least middle-single-digit millions from his core fan base alone, so a late surge of interest in the film could see it climb just a bit higher during its opening frame.
Fox's PG-13 comedy "The Rocker" might need five days to reach a similar range. Having earned some positive early buzz, the Rainn Wilson-starring comedy unspooled Wednesday to stimulate additional word-of-mouth, but its first-day tally was just $600,000.
The R-rated "Death Race" stars Jason Statham, who tends to be popular with female filmgoers, and tracking also shows appeal among prospective urban moviegoers. Depending on how many females and older men join the film's young-male target group, "Death Race" could represent the weekend's best hope for a breakout performance.
Notable limited releases this weekend include exclusive engagements for Focus Features' comedy "Hamlet 2." The gambit aims to stimulate positive word-of-mouth before wide expansion of the Steve Coogan/Catherine Keener film over the long Labor Day frame.
Seinfeld to be pitchman for Microsoft
NEW YORK - Junior Mints, Yoo-hoo, Drake's Coffee Cakes, puffy shirts: These are all things Jerry Seinfeld has endorsed — at least in his alter ego on his classic sitcom. Now, add Microsoft software.
Seinfeld will be a key pitchman in a planned $300 million fall advertising campaign for the software giant, a person familiar with the plans confirmed to The Associated Press on condition on anonymity because the deal has not been formally announced.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the plans. Citing people close to the situation, it reported the comedian will be paid $10 million for appearing in ads with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
It's Microsoft's latest move to try to capture some of the cool quotient that rival Apple has appeared to win so effortlessly.
But for younger consumers especially, can Seinfeld turn the image tide for Microsoft?
"Seinfeld does represent sort of a challenge," says Brian Steinberg, television editor for the weekly advertising magazine Ad Age. "He's not Dane Cook. He's got a more sophisticated everyday take on things. He often comes across as a questioner of conventional wisdom but also can be kind of a crank. It's a fine line to walk when you're dealing with a younger person."
Steinberg did point out that the firm producing the spots — Crispin Porter and Bogusky — is known for creating commercials that appeal to young males, particularly in its campaigns for Burger King.
Seinfeld has shown himself to be a superior promoter in the past, particularly for American Express (which also featured Patrick Warburton as Superman) and in selling his Dreamworks animated film "Bee Movie" last summer.
For "Bee Movie," which Seinfeld co-wrote, co-produced and voiced, he also created 20 "TV juniors," which seemed less like commercials than one-minute bite-sized bits of comedy. The extensive promotion of the film began with him dressing up as a giant bee at the Cannes Film Festival.
"You gotta sell it," Seinfeld told the AP last year. "I've never been uncomfortable with that aspect. I don't feel like it's beneath me to sell what I did."
But Seinfeld's greatest triumph — the nine seasons of "Seinfeld" — ended more than 10 years ago, which means that many young computer users were still watching cartoons during his pop culture dominance.
Of course, the show is still on nightly reruns and Seinfeld has been active on the standup circuit. There have even been efforts to bring "Seinfeld" to younger demographics. Sony Pictures Television, which distributes "Seinfeld" in U.S. syndication, is holding a 26-city promotion in a cross-country bus tour of colleges.
Calls to Seinfeld's agent and manager went unreturned Thursday.
Vista, Microsoft's latest operating system that launched with the slogan "The Wow starts now," has received mostly negative publicity since its release last year. But sales have been strong, since more than 90 percent of PCs sold worldwide run Windows.
Apple's ad campaign "Get a Mac" pits a coat-and-tie clad older guy (John Hodgman) representing a PC, against jeans and T-shirt-wearing Justin Long, who plays the Mac. The commercials have also poked fun at Vista.
Steinberg said this latest campaign by Microsoft shows that the rivalry between the software company and Apple is reaching the intensity of Coke and Pepsi's cola wars of years ago.
It's also possible Seinfeld seems more like a Mac guy, Steinberg said.
After all, it's a Macintosh that's seen in the background of his apartment on "Seinfeld."