Florence and the Machine’s cover of ‘Stand By Me’ serves as backdrop of compelling Final Fantasy XV spot
To drum up excitement for the launch of the long-awaited Final Fantasy XV, LA agency Omelet has created a compelling TV spot that features Florence and the Machine’s cover of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me.”
Shot in Romania over the summer, the spot features four young boys who find themselves in the video game’s environment and are forced to come together to fight a powerful enemy. Yet when one of them falls and things look as though they’re about to take a turn for the worse, the four actual characters of Final Fantasy XV step in and help save the day.
The spot was created in partnership with video game developer Square Enix, the company behind the Final Fantasy franchise.
“The goal of Final Fantasy XV has been to make the game as open and as accessible as ever. We wanted to do something different for fans and newcomers of the franchise to invite them to stand together for the celebration of the launch of Final Fantasy XV,” said Mat Kishimoto, Square Enix senior product manager, in a statement. “We’re excited to have worked with Omelet to produce this piece that merges together the worlds of gaming and live action. We’re blown away by the amount of collaborative effort, creative energy, and passion we’ve been able to bring together for this project.”
Omelet enlisted film director Kasra Farahani, who has worked on films including Alice in Wonderland and Allegiant, to direct the spot.
“I love bringing great creative ideas to life with incredible partners like Omelet and Square Enix but it’s an added bonus when I can fulfill my own dreams at the same time. I cannot imagine any kid who grew up wanting to be a filmmaker, as I did, not jumping at the prospect of making a film about four young insurgents in the woods, bravely standing up to a powerful foe and solving whatever problems may arise,” said Farahani in a statement. “At its core, that is exactly what this spot is all about. This is a film about brotherhood, friendship and devotion and we cast a fearless little group of young insurgents to show fans that you can be tossed by circumstance into survival mode, left to your own resources and still come out victorious.”
Earlier this year, Omelet created a campaign for Square Enix's Hitman game featuring Gary Cole and Gary Busey.