14 DAY TRIAL // Brett Ratner, known for directing X-Men and Rush Hour, is set to make movies based on Activision's intellectual property. Apparently, his first two efforts have already been shown during the American Idol finale that aired on Wednesday. There were two spots, each 30 seconds long, one starring David Cook who went on to win the American Idol competition, and the other starring runner-up David Archuleta. The ads were modeled after the iconic underwear singing scene with Tom Cruise lipsyncing to "Old Time Rock and Roll". The air guitar was replaced by the Guitar Hero III plastic guitar.
Speaking of the two spots, Ratner said that "They were the same spots with the same music, but they were different because the charisma and characters of the two Davids are so different?"
Another appearance mediated by Ratner for Guitar Hero III is in Mariah Carey's new music video "Touch My Body" and, apparently, other such tie-ins are planned. American Idol, the most watched music-based television program in the United States, will continue to be used by Activision, with Ratner's help, as a platform to promote the Guitar Hero franchise.
It also appears that, as the relation between Activision and Ratner's production company improves and strengthens, more projects based on the intellectual property that Activision has will appear. Movies might be in the works in a short while. In this sense, Rather told Variety that "I will be doing movies that come from videogames."
Facing stiff competition from Rock Band, and with Rock Revolution also set to debut later in the year, Guitar Hero is preparing for a very interesting year in 2008. A Nintendo DS version of the game, complete with a new DS peripheral will be launched, while the band Aerosmith will be used to power a whole new edition of the game.
The fourth game in the series, called Guitar Hero World Tour, will also be out this year, bringing a new focus on the entire band, rather than on just the guitar playing.