Spike Jonze to direct 'epic' Beastie Boys video

(AFP PHOTO / FRANCOIS GUILLOT)

Last week hip-hop legends Beastie Boys announced that acclaimed director Spike Jonze ( Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are) is helming both "short and epic-length videos" for their Santigold collaboration, "Don't Play No Game that I Can't Win."

Details on the release have yet to be announced but the band recently posted an image featuring action figures of the trio holding toy guns. "Yes, they are ACTION figures, NOT dolls!" according to the website.

On May 2, Beastie Boys released the long-awaited Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, their first non-instrumental full-length in seven years. The new album also includes a collaboration with rapper Nas titled "Too Many Rappers," which released in July 2009 and was nominated for a Grammy Award.

The band has won three Grammy Awards and received critical acclaim for its albums such as Check Your Head, Ill Communication, and Hello Nasty, the latter of which topped charts in the US, the UK, and Australia.

Spike Jonze has directed four other Beastie Boys videos, including "Sabotage" and "Sure Shot," and has filmed clips for numerous other major acts, including Kanye West, Beck, and LCD Soundsystem.

Recently, he directed a film inspired by Arcade Fire's smash-hit album The Suburbs, as well as a video for the title track. The film, Scenes from the Suburbs, is billed as a "companion piece" to the album and focuses on a group of teenagers living in a disturbing suburban dystopia. It premiered in February at the Berlin Film Festival and was also screened at this year's SXSW in Austin, Texas.

For more info on the Beastie Boys, stay tuned to http://www.beastieboys.com

See Jonze's handiwork in the clip for "The Suburbs": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Euj9f3gdyM