James Franco and Lenny Kravitz Try Not to Suck at Guitar Hero Live in New Ad

One of the key features of the upcoming Guitar Hero Live is the real-time reaction of a live-action crowd, who'll tell you pretty quickly if you suck at lead guitar. And both Lenny Kravitz and James Franco don't exactly rip it up—at least in the early scenes—in this new commercial for the Activision game from 72andSunny. Kravitz, as you'd expect, pulls himself together. But Franco, amusingly enough, never looks very comfortable in the spot—apparently, playing guitar is the one cool thing this cool actor can't fake. (And surely being told to "Kravitz it up a little" doesn't help.) Franco and Kravitz were both reportedly fans of Guitar Hero, which made it easier for their enthusiasm on set to seem authentic and genuine. "Guitar Hero Live gives you the chance to live out your rock star fantasy in front of a real audience that reacts to how you play, so watching James Franco and Lenny Kravitz challenging each other to win the crowd in the game brought that excitement to life in a really cool way," says Tim Ellis, CMO of Activision Publishing. "Some of the best moments we captured on film were purely spontaneous between James and Lenny. They had great chemistry and had a lot of fun with the game. We just let them loose." Guitar Hero Live rolls out Oct. 20, returning from a five-year absence for the franchise. Check out the reveal trailer, and lots more about the game, here. CREDITS Brand: Guitar Hero, Activision Chief Executive Officer: Eric Hirshberg Chief Marketing Officer: Tim Ellis Vice President, Consumer Marketing: Ian Trombetta Senior Manager, Consumer Marketing: Orlando Baeza Coordinator, Consumer Marketing: Jared Castle Project: "Win the Crowd" Guitar Hero Live Launch Trailer Agency: 72andSunny Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole Executive Creative Director: Bryan Rowles Group Creative Director: Frank Hahn Creative Director, Designer: Peter Vattanatham Creative Director, Writer: Tim Wolfe Lead Writer: Evan Brown Senior Designer: Jon Hall Writer: Ryan Iverson Group Strategy Directors: John Graham, Bryan Smith Senior Strategist: Hamish Cameron Strategist: Jake Watt Group Brand Director: Mike Parseghian Brand Director: Torie Gleicher Brand Manager: Sarah Donze Brand Coordinator: Mariam Al-Hooty Chief Production Officer: Tom Dunlap Director of Film Production: Sam Baerwald Executive Producer: Dan Ruth Senior Film Producers: Kara Fromhart, Zeynep Taslica, Dave Stephenson Director of Business Affairs: Michelle McKinney Business Affairs Director: Alex Lebosq Business Affairs Coordinator: Ashley Pesses Production Company: Caviar Director: Jonathan Krisel Executive Producer: Michael Sagol Director of Photography: Damian Acevedo Head of Production: Kelly Bowen Line Producer: Jeff Tanner Editing: Rock, Paper, Scissors Editor, GH LIVE: David Brodie, Gabriel Britz Editor, GHTV: Carlos Arias Post Producer: Dina Ciccotello Recording, Mixing: Lime Studios Audio Mixer: Zac Fisher Audio Assistant: Kevin McAlpine Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan Visual Effects, Online: Method Senior Flame Artist: Thomas Downs Producer: Sumer Zuberi Telecine: CO3 Colorist: Siggy Ferstl Producer: Matt Moran

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James Franco and Lenny Kravitz Try Not to Suck at Guitar Hero Live in New Ad

Playing to the unforgiving crowd

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