In a break from tradition, this summer’s customary Tom Cruise-starring vehicle will not be an action blockbuster – that’s being saved for this winter, with One Shot – and instead arrives in the shape of Rock of Ages, a big screen treatment of the hit 1980s-flavored jukebox Broadway musical.
Adam Shankman (Hairspray) is calling the shots on the Rock of Ages movie, which features a (so to speak) diverse cast composed of A-listers like Cruise and Alec Baldwin, well-known funnymen like Russell Brand and Will Forte, respected character actors like Bryan Cranston and Paul Giamatti – along with on-the-rise stars including Julianne Hough (Footloose) and Diego Boneta (Pretty Little Liars) and singer/songwriter Mary J. Blige, among others.
Rock of Ages takes place in 1987 and revolves around the efforts of Dennis Dupree (Baldwin) to save his beloved Bourbon Room club on the Hollywood Sunset Strip from a conservative rock-hater (Catherine Zeta-Jones) – which includes hiring on the aging (and often wasted) rocker Stacee Jaxx (Cruise) to put on the end-all of performances – along with the budding romance between Drew Boley (Boneta) and Sherrie Christian (Hough): two young and naive musical talents “chasing their dreams in the big city.”
Check out the second official trailer for Rock of Ages:
Much like the first Rock of Ages trailer, this new theatrical promo isn’t so much focused on effectively outlining the film’s storyline; rather, it’s more about selling the movie’s big personalities, colorful ’80s atmosphere, and new thematic spins on cherished tunes that were all the rage during the ’70s and ’80s – like Journey’s “Any Way You Want It” or Arrow’s “I Love Rock n’ Roll,” among numerous others. This new trailer is also about offering an early sample of Cruise’s rock music singing abilities – and to be fair, he doesn’t sound half-bad.
The various sub-plots featured in Rock of Ages (free spirits battling the uptight establishment, young lovers with dreams of fame, newcomers experiencing the dark side of success, etc.) are all recognizable staples of the musical genre. Assuming screenwriters Justin Theroux (Tropic Thunder) and Allan Loeb (The Dilemma) haven’t strayed too far from Chris D’Arienzo’s original musical book, the Rock of Ages movie should be able to juggle those narrative threads as well as the original stage musical does.
Combine that with some inspired direction and dance choreography from Shankman – and songs that’ll appeal to folks who normally steer clear of musicals – and Rock of Ages has the makings to be nothin’ but a good time (sorry).
Rock of Ages arrives in theaters around the U.S. on June 15th, 2012.
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Source: iTunes
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I am all over this!!!
Hmm, interesting and I don’t even like musicals. Though I found myself watching the Footloose remake and thought it wasn’t half bad.
Love this!! Can’t wait!!!!!!!!!!!! Alex Baldwin looks great in his part and Cruise looks unreal.
Unreal in a fab way…
All the actors look and sound amazing in this! So much fun! Wanna relive the 80′s!!!!…and I was blown away by how rock star like Tom Cruise is! I’m a believer!
I keep telling people I’ve always been a fan! Tom has always been a rockstar
If you still count Alec Baldwin as an A-Lister you should at least count Catherine Zeta Jones as such as well…
Well…. back in 2005, I’d probably agree with you, but Jones has been pretty low-radar over the past seven years – whereas Baldwin has remained a (relatively) big name thanks to 30 Rock. That’s just how I see it, of course.
This looks like a lot of fun.
Wow, that snippet of “Heaven isn’t too far away” really showed how well those kids can sing. Could be great.
OMG. This looks really awful.
When it comes to musicals, I usually just can’t stand them! But this is different. It’s rock n’ roll this time and I am actually somewhat intrigued by it.
Count me in!
P.S. Pretty sure Tom Cruise finds room to sing in almost every movie he’s in! (i.e. Risky Business, Cocktail, Jerry Maguire) But, he sounds pretty damn good in this one.
Don’t forget Top Gun!
I am torn about this movie. It looks good, but long ago I said I would never again go see anything with that jerk Tom Cruise in it. He just makes my skin crawl. He usually just plays one type of character so it is easy to avoid. I mean really why do people keep paying this idiot!
Really, you hate To Cruise? Who hates Tom Cruise?
Cruise is more successful then Dani will be even if give a million years. Dani is too simple and ignorant to understand the legendary roles like Les Grossman, Lestat, and Vincept that Tom portrayed with shear BRILLIANCE.
Don’t think she has seen Interview With The Vampire, Collateral, Tropic Thunder, Born on The Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, Magnolia..OK the list is too long! In conclusion, Dani is ignorant beyond words.
THe person calling someone they don’t even know an “idiot” and also calling them a “jerk”? what you are a hypocrite to the bone?
Me, I have major Tom Cruise hate. I loved the musical and was really excited to see it on the big screen until I heard Tom C. and Russel B. had been cast. Let down big time
WoW.That is a lot of hate for Tom Cruise.You act as if Tom Cruise killed a friend or family member of yours.Tom is a good actor.It’s not good to have all that hate in you.
I don’t know. I saw the Broadway version and the songs were arranged like hair metal songs.
They were not over orchestrated and auto-tuned within an inch of their lives like this trailer.
What’s the matter, they couldn’t find actors who could hit the notes?
I lived in the hair metal era. This does not sound like hair metal at all.
Sad.
As a fellow child of the ’80s and big fan of this musical, I hate to say it, but you have a point. The overdone arrangements and processed vocals sound like music you’d hear on the Disney Channel.
Listen to the CD of the Broadway cast and the difference is quite pronounced.
don’t assume all things are auto tuned because this type of technology is available now. I can’t speak for the rest of the cast but Tom sang Pour Some Sugar on Me LIVE for the extras as a thanks and what an incredible performance. I saw on Kimmel once that a guest said Cruise was born to conduct Orchestra and can do anything, It was that day I jumped on the bandwagon of the “Tom Cruise can do anything” after watching his performance.
I’m not assuming anything; I’m going by what I hear in this trailer. There is a ton of processing on everything and little to no dynamic range.
Look up the Broadway cast CD on Amazon and listen to the sound samples of the songs that are in this trailer. There’s a big difference.
Hopefully the trailer doesn’t reflect the sound of the movie itself.
@ anon: I an a working recording engineer. Ther eis no assumption on my part.
I know the sound of auto-tune, both when it is used subtly and when it is used for over-the-top T-Pain type effects.
There is more auto-tune in the singing in this trailer than there is in an episode of Glee.
I’m not a musical fan by any means and have no plans to see this even after it hits the rental market but I can still recognize the success potential of this thing. If I had money to invest and foresight I would have put money into this film and I don;t even want to see it.
How can this be a hit?
1) It offers the 80′s generation (those who were in their teens or 20-somethings during the 80s ) a chance to revisit the past at the movies by seeing a film that had it been released during the 80s would be hot amongst the teens and 20-something crowd.
2) Last Summers hit SUPER 8 gave that same generation a way to relive the time period of movies like THE GOONIES by offering a new film that very much felt like it was made in the 80s but with modern day tech/equipment so it doesn’t look cheesy.
I don’t care for ROCK OF AGES any more then I did SUPER 8 but it will be a success just like SUPER 8 was.
The summer of 87 was when I started to really get into music so every one of these songs are still lodged in my memory and will be there forever.
Regardless of how the rest of the film turns out just hearing these songs again will make it fun.
At home of course. So I can sing along
I will buy DVD too (I was an extra in the movie) but I must watch this in theater to experience what it is like with those sound system they have
this is rock for pop fans, but even forgetting thst this looks incredibly awful.
tom cruise as a rock star?!
this is going to be one of the biggest bombs in awhile.
like burlesque, but worse.
this will not bomb. Budget is only 70 million and just the fact that Tom Cruise is singing in it will alone cover for the budget LOL you need to check his filmography oh all-knowing one. This movie has an international star in, it will be do good globally even if it is bad (which isn’t possible because Adam Shankman is the director!) so fool, check his filmography too while you are it.
tom is that you?
you can come out now.
It says featuring the music of Def Leppard etc.. but what I was hearing from the trailer is some lame lounge style covers with a female singer on songs like Wanted Dead Or Alive, Anyway You Want It etc… And not the original songs by the artists. It sounds lame and shameful. A joke and an embarrassment of the eighties era Metal Rock scene. Laughable and even more laughable with Tom Cruise in it. Get a Rope. This looks to be a sacrilege to music. The ‘I just puked in my pants’ joke is a warning to a potentially disastrous film. Beware!
Great video and images have been posted !
the Rock of Ages movie should be able to juggle
tage musical does.
Looks different….i might see this.
OMG..! I just remembered what this clip reminds me of. Back in the 70′s/80′s when records were sold in tv commercials that didn’t feature the original artists! It’d be this cheesy no-name singer or band covering pop tunes we all knew. Someone help me out here..what was the name of the company that pushed these no-name cover records? LOL..arrgh..I hate it when that happens. Off to google.
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this film is good but not as good as mamma mia tom cruise should have had more song to sing as he is the best part of it
Profanity is not entertainment. You dont have to be offensive to be a good actor. Terrible movie, terrible influence on teenagers glamorizing lifestyles that mock a holy and just God. Bring back the days of true entertainment that lacked crude language and the promotion of sexual immorality.
Happy Birthday TOM CRUISE 3rd July 2012
FOREVER A ROCK BROTHER