How much money do you make for two days of work? If it's less than £500,000, then Helen Mirren's got you beat. For just two days' worth of shooting commercials for Wii Fit Plus, the veteran actress received £500,000 - the equivalent of approximately $800,000 USDusing current exchange rates - from Nintendo.
Of course, we have no idea how much negotiating went on between Mirren and the Wii Fit people, but apparently Nintendo wanted her, specifically, at any cost. "Nintendo insisted they wanted Helen and no one else. They wanted an older, more attractive woman to show that the Wii isn't just for children," said a friend of Mirren in an MSN story.
As someone whose mother wanted nothing but Wii Fit for Christmas two years ago, I know the exercise game can spark a lot of interest among the 50+ crowd (sorry, mom, for telling people how old you are). Based on the number of Wii bowling tournaments we've seen in retirement centers across America, Nintendo has actually managed to do the unthinkable and turn senior citizens into gamers (kinda).
Mirren will obviously be able to reinforce that message. For $800,000, we hope Nintendo really got its money's worth. The TV spots will show Mirren playing the game andsinging its praises, saying stuff like, "You need never get bored as every day you can tailor a new workout."
What would be even cooler is to see her play Wii Fit Plusin herQueen Elizabeth II get-up. That probably would have cost an extra $100,000, though.
[Source:MSN]
Nov 8, 2010
