Digital production company Digital Domain Media Group (NYSE: DDMG) announced that it has signed an exclusive agreement with CORE Media Group (formerly CKx) to jointly develop, produce and own a series of “virtual” Elvis Presley likenesses for a range of entertainment projects–from shows and appearances to film, TV and multi-platform productions throughout the world.
Digital Domain Media Group created the CG likeness of Tupac Shakur for Dr. Dre’s recent show at the Coachella Valley Music Festival. CORE Media Group, a portfolio company of Apollo Global Management LLC, is the driving force behind such iconic brands as Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.
“This is a new and exciting way to bring the magic and music of Elvis Presley to life. His lifelong fans will be thrilled all over again and new audiences will discover the electric experience of Elvis the performer,” said Elvis Presley Enterprises‘ president/CEO Jack Soden. “The high level of quality entertainment that both CORE Media Group and Digital Domain deliver gives us great confidence that these projects will help continue the growth of Elvis’ rich legacy all over the world.” Elvis Presley Enterprises is a division of CORE Media Group.
The companies have already begun work on the virtual Elvis Presley likenesses and will announce when and where audiences can expect to see the first virtual Elvis performances.
“As we look for new ways to offer audiences our intellectual property across multiple platforms, this partnership is the perfect fit for CORE Media, and exactly the type of announcement you can expect to see more of from us,” said CORE Media Group president Marc Graboff. “Clearly the team at Digital Domain is at the leading edge of the virtual experience arena, and we are anxious to get working on this exciting project.”
From Digital Domain’s work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to TRON: Legacy, X-Men: First Class to Tupac Shakur, the company has spent a decade and tens of millions of dollars in perpetual development perfecting its technology, tools, and techniques to create realistic computer generated humans.
Martin Scorsese On “The Saints,” Faith In Filmmaking and His Next Movie
When Martin Scorsese was a child growing up in New York's Little Italy, he would gaze up at the figures he saw around St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. "Who are these people? What is a saint?" Scorsese recalls. "The minute I walk out the door of the cathedral and I don't see any saints. I saw people trying to behave well within a world that was very primal and oppressed by organized crime. As a child, you wonder about the saints: Are they human?" For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he's finally realized it in "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints," an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media. The one-hour episodes, written by Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, each chronicle a saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximillian Kolbe. Joan of Arc kicks off the series on Sunday, with three weekly installments to follow; the last four will stream closer to Easter next year. In naturalistic reenactments followed by brief Scorsese-led discussions with experts, "The Saints" emphasizes that, yes, the saints were very human. They were flawed, imperfect people, which, to Scorsese, only heightens their great sacrifices and gestures of compassion. The Polish priest Kolbe, for example, helped spread antisemitism before, during WWII, sheltering Jews and, ultimately, volunteering to die in the place of a man who had been condemned at Auschwitz. Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday, recently met for an interview not long after returning from a trip to his grandfather's hometown in Sicily. He was made an honorary citizen and the experience was still lingering in his mind. Remarks have... Read More