The Electronic Entertainment Expo, aka E3, got a little taste of "Fury" yesterday when David Ayer ("End of Watch," "Training Day") stopped by to show off behind-the-scenes footage of his upcoming movie. The WWII film stars Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jason Isaacs, and Scott Eastwood as guys on an intense mission to infiltrate a particularly nasty Nazi stronghold.
"Fury" is being cross-promoted with "World of Tanks," the massive multiplayer online game from Wargaming.net. The immensely popular (and free) game will feature some tie-in content from "Fury," although there aren't any specific details as of yet. It's a clever move on Sony's part, especially since the game has a global reach and is about to move into the mobile space.
Video games and the movies have had a rather tumultuous relationship over the years. There are too many video games based on movies that stink, and maybe even more movies based on video games that have stalled out for years (see "Assassin's Creed," "Halo," and "BioShock," for starters). Hollywood definitely hasn't stayed away from E3 -- Aaron Paul showed up last year to promote the latest "Need for Speed" game, although the film he starred in sunk -- but in-game promotion seems like a new way for the movie industry to infiltrate the incredibly lucrative gaming sector.
Although Hollywood has successfully infiltrated Comic-Con to promote upcoming movies and TV shows, perhaps E3 will be the next frontier if this collaboration proves fruitful.
"Fury" opens November 14th.
[Via Deadline]