Mariah Carey — pop icon, imperfect angel, elusive chanteuse — is replacing model Kate Upton as the public face of Game of War: Fire Age, according to TMZ. Carey's commitment includes a seven-figure pay check; a 30-second commercial filmed by Alan Taylor, the director of Thor: The Dark World and the upcoming Terminator Genisys; and the use of her music in future promotional material.
Upton was the centerpiece of a $40 million advertising campaign launched by the mobile strategy game's developer, Machine Zone, and she made her way into the game itself as the model for its de facto mascot, the goddess Athena. The sheer size of the game's ad budget is dumbfounding at first glance, but it's justified by its status as one of the highest-grossing apps across several platforms. A BloombergBusiness feature published in March noted Game of War: Fire Age hauls in more than $1 million in revenue every day. That's the kind of tremendous cash flow that convinces one of the most successful vocalists in musical history to serve as pitch-woman for a free-to-play fantasy builder on smartphones around the world. Carey's trafficked in "fantasy" before, of course, but never quite like this.
CAREY'S TRAFFICKED IN "FANTASY" BEFORE, OF COURSE, BUT NEVER QUITE LIKE THIS
Her decision to sign on with Game of War: Fire Age comes at a point in her career where she's having more trouble than ever achieving the level of dominance she made look easy 20 years ago. Recent releases like last year's strong LP Me. I Am Mariah... The Elusive Chanteuse and compilation promo single "Infinity" have failed to impact the charts in any significant way, and Carey's been forced to turn to unorthodox gimmickry — partnerships with Match.com, an ongoing stint at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas — to grab headlines.
If her work with Game of War: Fire Age is as widely and relentlessly aired as Upton's, it could grant her a level of visibility she hasn't enjoyed for a long time. And she's no stranger to playing a character: she's brought self-awareness and good humor to decadent, demanding diva-hood for well over a decade. I can't help but wonder which of her hits is going to end up being used to promote the game. Maybe she can take a cue from Upton's infamous tagline — "Will you be my hero?" — and find something fitting in her back catalog.
Model Kate Upton attends the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue launch party at Crimson on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013 in New York.(Photo by Brad Barket/Invision/AP) (Credit: Brad Barket)
Kate Upton’s making her film debut this Friday in “The Other Woman” — that is, if you don’t consider “Cat Daddy” a work of cinematic art.
Before Upton rose to such professional heights that she could sell a movie simply by bouncing in slow-motion during promos, she was a reasonably well-known swimsuit model dancing provocatively in a video shot by Terry Richardson. (That’s here, though for the narrow slice of humanity that has not yet seen it: be advised it’s not safe for every workplace.) Upton had heretofore been a model for Guess and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue — the YouTube clip of her gyrating “Cat Daddy” dance catapulted her to icon status. But the supermodel is considerably more trailblazing than she might seem.
The media has long been obsessed with the idea that Upton is somehow an “unconventional” beauty. The 2013 cover story about her in Vogue began with a set-piece of the model at the gym trying to lose weight, and described her as “curvaceous.” All this is to say that her physical appeal seems to be in line with a male fantasy of what beauty is, rather than the ideals of a fashion-magazine editor.
But Upton isn’t just famous for her appearance. She’s famous for projecting a particular kind of emotional and physical openness. She’s good-humored, amiable and transparent. In the Vogue profile she happily shares her workout regimen; the “Cat Daddy” video makes her seem at once free-spirited and coy.
She’s a perfect encapsulation of that overused trope: the “Cool Girl,” taken from Gillian Flynn’s bestselling thriller “Gone Girl.” In the book, Amy, striving so desperately to be a “Cool Girl,” rants about the particular sort of girl guys love, one who, memorably, never “wants ‘just one’ of your chili fries, because she orders a giant order for herself.” The appellation has recently found itself attached to Jennifer Lawrence, for her breezy navigation of superstardom. But the specific way Upton embodies her “cool-girlness” marks an important difference.
Remember that video game ad you saw during the Super Bowl, starring Kate Upton?
She got a million dollars for that.
So says the game CEO who hired her for the ad campaign — at least, according to another game executive he is suing.
Confused? Fair enough. First, the backstory:
The report about Upton’s payday comes out of a suit filed by Machine Zone, the company behind the megahit Game of War: Fire Age, against rival game company Kabam for “trade secret misappropriation.” In the suit, Machine Zone says Kabam “has obtained access to a document containing its highly confidential, valuable trade secret information”; Kabam says it has never seen the document.
The dispute appears to have stemmed from an argument at an industry cocktail party this month between Machine Zone CEO Gabriel Leydon and Daniel Wiggins, a Kabam biz dev exec. According to Wiggins, he ended up in a “very heated exchange” about the merits of the two companies with Leydon, and made a “false boast” to Leydon that he had seen Machine Zone’s financials.
“The fact is that I had had a few drinks, and was just angry that Mr. Leydon was being so unreasonably aggressive about Machine Zone and felt that someone should put him in his place,” Wiggins said in a statement filed with a California state court.
Fine. But what about Kate Upton?
Okay. That was part of the run-up to the dispute. As the two men were arguing, Wiggins says, Leydon attacked Kabam’s strategy of cutting licensing deals with big movie studios like Marvel, to create games like Contest of Champions. Instead, he said, Machine Zone develops its own characters and themes. And when it does pay talent, it gets it (comparatively) cheap.
Per Wiggins: “Mr. Leydon also bragged that unlike Kabam, [which] paid a considerable amount of money as an ongoing royalty for the talent and works that they license, Machine Zone had only paid about one million dollars to obtain the rights to use Kate Upton’s likeness. (Kate Upton, for the Court’s benefit, is a supermodel who may be best known for appearing in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue). In light of the relatively limited money Machine Zone had paid Ms. Upton, Mr. Leydon was bragging that the rights obtained from Kate Upton were hugely profitable for Machine Zone. He also emphasized that the limited relationship between Machine Zone and Ms. Upton did not require Machine Zone’s continued payment of royalties to Ms. Upton.”
Is any of that true? It seems quite believable, but Machine Zone isn’t commenting on their deal with Upton. It did offer this statement regarding its suit against Kabam: “Machine Zone is a quiet company that prefers to focus on our own business, but we are forced into this lawsuit because an executive at Kabam claimed directly to our CEO in front of several witnesses to have obtained Machine Zone’s confidential financial information and internal documents. Given that Kabam’s current defense is that their executive was lying, we are even more certain this action is necessary.”
And here’s Kabam’s response, via spokesman Steve Swasey:
“This entire situation is borne out of bad judgment by a mid-level Kabam employee and the ludicrous reaction by the CEO of a competitor, at a cocktail party with beverages in hand. The Kabam employee was baited and fabricated a tale about seeing a document to try to win an argument. That was stupid. But the CEO’s reaction is even more incredulous. In fact, neither the Kabam employee nor anyone at Kabam has seen the document as alleged. If such a document even exits. Forensic experts have searched the employee’s computers and phone and have found nothing.
The court has denied the competitor’s two temporary restraining orders (TROs). 0-for-2 on TROs shows there is no merit to this case. In fact, the case is preposterous.
This whole situation is like an episode of HBO’s brilliant satire “Silicon Valley,” in which a mid-level employee of one company tries to one-up the CEO of a competitor by fabricating a story. Immature Silicon Valley posturing, bragging and machismo at an industry cocktail party. HBO script writers couldn’t write it better. It would be hilarious if it weren’t true. Regrettably, it’s happening, and it’s embarrassing to all.”
Kate Upton is often labeled as a modern-day Marilyn Monroe, thanks to her enviable curves, bouncy blonde locks and classically beautiful features.
And now, the 23-year-old actress is once again channeling her inner Marilyn as she stars in a stunning calendar-style shoot for the first ever issue of former Vogue Editor Carine Roitfeld's newest project, CR Men's Book.
'Kate has always been everything I love,' Carine, 60, explained on the CR Fashion Book website.
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Pin-up: Kate Upton stars in this calendar-style shoot for the first ever issue of CR Men's Book
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The combination of Kate Upton and Carine Roitfeld is a match made in fashion heaven!
The editor of CR Men's Book has hailed the model as the Marilyn Monroe of today, and she's definitely got that blonde bombshell thing going on here. We love her layered look of a lace-trimmed camisole and two shirts. One just wasn't enough!
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'She is the opposite of me - a Marilyn of today. For my new CR Men's Book, she represents different types of beauty and the sexual fantasies of all men.'
An article posted on the CR Men's Book website about Kate's shoot further explains why the actress and model was chosen to star in the debut publication, describing the blonde bombshell as a 'strong woman' whose looks and personality, Carine believes, will resonate with all of the magazine's readers.
'For more than one reason, it's only fitting for supermodel Kate Upton to be cast for the first issue of our CR Men's Book,' the article reads.
Model Kate Upton arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala Benefit celebrating the opening of "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" in New York May 5, 2014. Reuters/Carlo Allegri
We have all seen the sensuous side of famous bikini model Kate Upton but not many people know that she is a dare devil at heart. The Sports Illustrated model and her boyfriend Justin Verlander unraveled their adventurous side recently when they decided to walk along the edge of Toronto' famous CN tower.
For their dangerous stunt, Upton and her baseball player boyfriend slipped into bright, orange-colored jumpsuits, safety harnesses and climbed to CN Tower observation deck in Toronto. The tower is at the height of 1,168 feet and is used for sky walking. The "extreme urban adventure" that the couple undertook is called Edgewalk.
Upton and her Detroit Tigers pitcher beau did not look nervous or scared in the pictures from the stunt that she shared on her Instagram profile. The couple is all smiles as they are suspended from their harnesses at an extreme height.
Meanwhile, Verlander's team Detroit Tigers lost their recent match at Rogers Centre ballpark in Canada. Jeff Moss, a blogger with Detroit Sports Rag took at dig at Verlander's recent loss on Twitter. “These pics are much more palatable when JV is pitching the like old JV,” Moss tweeted, referring to Verlander's recent stunt pictures with Upton.
Verlander's girlfriend however cheered for him on Twitter with an inspiring message. “@JustinVerlander is so inspiring working so hard at the game he loves to playIm so grateful I get to be around his amazing energy! #GoJV,” Upton said in a tweet, before the match.
Upton, 21, might be good at extreme adventures like sky walking, but she is known in the modeling world for her sensuous looks and voluptuous figure. Because of her famous twin assets, Upton is often called a “blonde bombshell.” In her recent interview with Details magazine, the bikini model said that she is, in fact, quite comfortable with the bombshell tag.
“It’s where I’ve started and it’s what I’ve accomplished, so I’m happy about it,” the Sports Illustrated model said.
Diva behavior, a flailing film career and burned bridges in the modeling industry: Why Kate Upton may be all washed up. Above: Upton's attempt at acting in "The Other Woman" came up short. Top right: Celebrating her 2012 Sports Illustrated cover. Bottom right: Upton at a promotional event for her much-maligned "Game of War" app.Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images; Barry Wetcher/Twentieth Century Fox; Han Myung-Gu/WireImage
It’s hard to imagine a greater recent modeling success than Kate Upton. After a video of her dancing at a basketball game went viral in 2011, she catapulted to the cover of Sports Illustrated and into boys’ fantasies across the globe, followed by an unfeasible leap into the pages of Vogue, despite her couture-busting curves.
She even lit up Hollywood, starring opposite Cameron Diaz in a sexy summer flick.
But, more recently, industry insiders are saying her meteoric rise has started its downward trajectory — and part of the reason for that is her own attitude.
As Upton’s career ballooned, says more than one fashion insider who spoke to The Post on the condition of anonymity, so did her ego. She went from “innocent” to exhibiting diva-like behavior, insiders say.
“She became really unappreciative of her success,” says a fashion publicist who asked not to be named for professional reasons, commenting on her general behavior. “It totally went to her head. She didn’t understand that people had taken a chance on her.”
Another modeling-world veteran says Upton’s demands became ridiculous, including asking for photographer approval on shoots and refusing to be photographed with other models. (She’s since posed with a male model for an Express campaign.)
“Even Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell embrace new models and shoot with them,” the second source says. “If you look at people with those long careers, they know how to give back.”
The secret sniping is the latest setback for Upton, 22, who’s also noticeably absent from the most recent Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. (The magazine did not return a request for comment.)
As for her acting career, she has just one new project slated for production in 2015: “The Layover,” a road-trip sex comedy co-starring Lea Michele and directed by William H. Macy.
Meanwhile, her highly anticipated Super Bowl commercial for the video game app “Game of War,” which depicted her in a medieval breastplate trotting toward a battlefield, was widely panned.
As soon as she uttered, “Do you want to come and play?” it made people wonder whether she should have stuck to modeling.
“This campaign does the impossible: making Kate Upton seem totally wooden,” tweeted Adweek.
In October, Upton ditched her modeling agents at IMG Models in favor of talent agents at William Morris Endeavor to strike it big in Hollywood (WME owns IMG), according to a Page Six report. The change in management came on the heels of working with Diaz in 2014’s “The Other Woman.”
But her range, as The Hollywood Reporter noted, was limited.
“Upton does what she’s called upon to do, look great in a bikini, and rarely has more than one line to speak at a time,” wrote THR’s Todd McCarthy.
It’s been a harsh reception for a 5-foot-10 blonde famous for her bubbly approachability and all-American style.
The great-granddaughter of Frederick Upton, one of the founders of the Whirlpool Corporation, and niece of Congressman Fred Upton, she was born in Michigan and raised in Melbourne, Fla. There she became a champion equestrian and, at 15, signed with Elite Model Management.
She moved to New York to pursue modeling, and on her 18th birthday signed with IMG Models — the agency that nurtured the careers of Gisele Bündchen, Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum.
Four years ago, the clip of a carefree Upton dancing to Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How To Dougie” at a Los Angeles Clippers game lit up the Internet. By the time she was 20, she made the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue twice (in 2012 and 2013), as well as GQ, CR Fashion Book, Cosmopolitan and Italian Vogue.
She became the darling of top photographers like Terry Richardson, Steven Meisel, Mario Testino and Bruce Weber. And in June of 2013, she landed the biggest coup — the cover of American Vogue.
Away from the lens, the sexy Floridian continued to titillate by dating athletes like former Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and Justin Verlander, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, whom she’s still dating.
“She really shook up the industry in terms of how quickly you could achieve the usual markers of success,” says Betty Sze, managing editor of industry site models.com. “What takes high-fashion models sometimes years or decades to get, like the Vogue cover, the name recognition, the cosmetics contract . . . Kate was able to get all those in the space of two or so years.”
But Upton was convinced she made it to the top alone.
“It’s weird that in the press they’ll be like, ‘Your biggest fight was with the industry and the designers,’ and I’m like, ‘No, my biggest fight was with my agents, trying to get them to sign me into the castings,’” she told British Vogue last June.
Upton wasn’t always an easy sell, though.
“When Kate first came in, everyone at the agency thought I was crazy. She wasn’t ‘fashion’ enough,” Ivan Bart, the SVP and managing director of IMG, told the New York Times.
‘SHE BECAME REALLY UNAPPRECIATIVE OF HER SUCCESS. IT TOTALLY WENT TO HER HEAD. SHE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THAT PEOPLE HAD TAKEN A CHANCE ON HER. ’
- A fashion publicist on Kate Upton’s career
The legend-maker said he had to convince clients to meet with her. But once he got her in front of them, they were smitten.
“Kate was embraced for her ease in front of the camera and in her interactions with people,” says Sze.
And yet, Upton, who has 1.9 million followers on both Instagram and Twitter, just last week criticized the very medium that made her a star.
“I feel like social media at this point is kind of bulls–t,” she told the Edit, Net-a-Porter’s online magazine.
It was yet another comment that made industry insiders fume.
“That’s how she got famous!” quips the fashion publicist.
Despite these recent bumps, her new agents are convinced she has legs as an actress.
“Kate achieved enormous success as a model by the age of 22 and is now embarking on the next phase of her career,” Upton’s reps at William Morris said in a statement. “She is taking acting very seriously, receiving great reviews for her work in ‘The Other Woman,’ and is now about to start shooting her next starring role in ‘The Layover.’”
Her move to movies is one Nigel Barker, author of “Models of Influence,” says suits her career trajectory.
“Whenever you see someone with a meteoric rise, you see them skip to the next thing very quickly,” he says. “And she has a very good on-camera presence that is extremely charming.”
But one Hollywood agent who asked to remain anonymous says Upton’s turn on the silver screen didn’t make a splash.
“Kate is not even on our radar,” the agent says. “If she thinks she can make it as a movie star, she’s clearly believing her own hype. I don’t even remember her in ‘The Other Woman,’ but pretty, buxom actresses are not exactly in short supply. Without any discernible talent, she will struggle to get taken seriously.”
As for modeling, Upton is still the face of Bobbi Brown cosmetics and Express, though a source says her contract with the clothing line has expired. (A rep for the company declined to comment.)
Regardless, Barker says someone as versatile as Upton will always be in demand.
“People still want to hear from her. Once you get to the point in her career that Upton has, you don’t just fizzle. It has to be a conscious decision to step aside.”
And, while she aims for the top, perhaps a little bit of adversity will help her get there. As Upton herself admitted to the Edit, “Maybe a little hate is good for me.”
Additional reporting by Louisa Pisani
The rise and fall of Kate Upton
From a fresh-faced Florida kid to modeling’s hottest babe to panned actress — all by age 22.
A video (above) of Upton dancing at a Clippers game goes viral.
Modal TriggerPhoto: Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesUpton makes a swimwear splash, walking the runway in Miami.
2012
Modal TriggerPhoto: Michael Loccisano/Getty ImagesThe model celebrates scoring a Sports Illustrated cover.
2014
Modal TriggerPhoto: Barry Wetcher/Twentieth Century FoxHer comedy “The Other Woman” (above, with Leslie Mann, left) flops.
Modal TriggerPhoto: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty ImagesBut her love life is looking up — she’s dating baseballer Justin Verlander.
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