I hope The Replacer sticks around for a while.
The titular character in 72andSunny's trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 - Revolution is portrayed by veteran actor Peter Stormare, who riffs on his tough-guy persona to great effect as a dude in a dark suit who literally substitutes for guys so they can enjoy more game time.
We see him in a delivery room ("Don't worry about your husband. I'm your husband. Just get that baby out"); getting flustered as he tries to assemble furniture ("There are supposed to be four wheels and I've only got two!"); and cleaning the monkey house at the zoo ("Now you're gonna pick up my…" BLEEP!). There's even a nod to his memorable role in Fargo, as he feeds a birdhouse into a wood-chipper.
In describing the actual update to the iconic Activision franchise, he delivers one of the best commercial lines in recent memory: "For the first time ever, you get to play a freakin' zombie. If that's the kind of business you're into."
The script's solid, but Stormare's performance makes it soar. (He totally upstages the snippets of shoot-em-up game footage.) With his menacing grin and impossibly-intense-yet-goofy line deliveries, he's always on edge, seemingly seconds away from committing acts of extreme violence—just like gamers in real life. (Just kidding ... I think.)
The franchise should introduce a game where spokescharacters battle it out: Ad Ops: The Replacer vs. The Negotiator and Mayhem. I'd play as Shatner every time.
CREDITS
Client: Activision Publishing
CEO: Eric Hirshberg
EVP, Chief Marketing Officer: Tim Ellis
SVP, Consumer Marketing: Todd Harvey
Sr. Director, Consumer Marketing: Susan Hallock
Consumer Marketing Manager: Mike Pelletier
Associate Consumer Marketing Manager: David Cushman
Agency: 72andSunny
Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Executive Creative Director: Frank Hahn
Creative Director, Writer: Josh Fell
Creative Director, Designer: Rey Andrade
Lead Writer: Zach Hilder
Writer: Matt Spicer
Designer: Will Lindberg
Designer: Nicky Veltman
Director of Film Production: Sam Baerwald
Senior Film Producer: Dan Ruth
Jr. Film Producer: Peter Williams
Director of Business Affairs: Christine Claussen
Business Affairs Manager: Jennifer Jahinian
Jr. Business Affairs Manager: Maura McNulty
Group Brand Director: Mike Parseghian
Brand Director: Luke Lamson
Brand Manager: John Moloney
Brand Coordinator: Erica Goitia
Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Executive Producer: Dan Duffy, Kevin Byrne
Line Producer: Nate Young
Director of Photography: Tim Ives
Editorial: Arcade Editorial
Editor: Christjan Jordan
Assitant Editor: Andy Trecki
Producer: Ali Reed
Executive producer: Nicole Visram
Visual Effects/Online: Method
Lead Smoke Artist: Jason Frank
Producer: Stephanie Allis
Executive Producer: Robert Owens
Motion Graphics: Logan
Executive Producer: Matthew Marquis
Head of Production: Scott Siegal
Producer: JR Tuason
Art Director: Kenneth Robbin
Designers: Kenneth Robbin, Neil Tsai
2D Animators: Neil Tsai, Morgan James
Sound Design: 740 Sound Design & Mix
Executive Producer: Scott Ganary
Sound Designers: Rommel Molina, Nicholas Interlandi
Mix: Lime Audio post
Mixer: Rohan Young
Assistant Engineer: Jeff Malen
Producer: Jessica Locke
Music: Human
