Dan Aykroyd to Promote Blues Brothers Video Game

Published on: 2014/03/31 - in Entertainment

Last week, MX Digital announced a partnership with Blues Brothers Approved Ventures for the use of The Blues Brothers brand for online gaming properties. The agreement includes the names and likenesses of Jake and Elwood Blues, as well as promotional support from original Blues Brother, Dan Aykroyd.

“We are really excited to add The Blues Brothers to our catalog of games,” said MX Digital Partner, Eric Bischoff.  “As a fan, and having been a part of the television audience when The Blues Brothers made television, feature film and music history, we are very proud to be able to bring this brand to fans around the world in our game formats, and honored to be working with the legendary Dan Aykroyd and Judy Belushi (John Belushi’s widow).”

There’s been no official word yet as to the possibility Aykroyd will voice himself in any future Blues Brothers game, as he and most of the original cast of Ghostbusters did for that movie’s adaption into video gaming.  The Kingston area resident can also be heard voicing the Scarecrow character in the animated film “Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return” when it’s released on May 9, 2014.

The Blues Brothers are an American blues and soul revivalist band created by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi – who portrayed lead singer Jake Blues and harmonica playing vocalist Elwood Blues, respectively – for a recurring musical sketch on Saturday Night Live that first appeared in April, 1978.

The duo released an album entitled “Briefcase Full of Blues” in 1978 – which hit #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and went double platinum – and then a feature film “The Blues Brothers” in 1980.

After Belushi’s death in 1982, the Blues Brothers act continued with a variety of guest singers – including brother, Jim Belushi – and band members. They reformed in 1988 for a world tour and then again in 1998 for the sequel feature film “Blues Brothers 2000”.

The prison scenes in “Blues Brothers 2000” were filmed at Millhaven and Bath Correctional Institutions just outside Kingston, a snippet of which appeared in the official Trailer.

MX Digital also announced 5 additional new games for 2014, including games that feature “Hollywood legend James Dean, MGM Film’s “Missing In Action” starring Chuck Norris, boxing great “Smokin” Joe Frazier, controversial former NBA star Dennis Rodman and the successful console game BloodRayne”.

The company has already released successful celebrity themed games for wrestling legend, Hulk Hogan, and ‘Baywatch’ star and singer, David Hasselhoff.

In announcing the Blues Brothers collaboration, Panacea Entertainment Chairman/CEO Eric Gardner – who represents the brand on behalf of Dan Aykroyd and Judith Belushi – said: “The Blues Brothersis an inextricable thread woven into the fabric of our global culture. What better iconic characters than those rapscallions with hearts of gold, Jake & Elwood Blues, to be emblazoned in the ether on digitalslot machines, and what better partners could Judy and Danny ask for than industry leaders MX Digital.”

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Image source: Wikimedia Commons