RED and Steven Soderbergh plan 'hard-core' headphones

Fresh from wowing critics at Cannes with his last movie, the camp-as-tents Liberace biopic Beyond the Candelabra, Steven Soderbergh is getting busy in his retirement -- he's opened an online store and plans to sell "totally badass" headphones in partnership with high-end camera makers RED.

The store, called Extension 765 (Harrison Ford's phone number in The Conversation, according to Film Junk) is described as a "one-of-a-kind marketplace". The director, best known for Ocean's Eleven and Traffic, is flogging t-shirts, bags, movie memorabilia and even his own brandy.

"Pretty soon we are going to have something totally badass: headphones," says the only man capable of making Jennifer Lopez look like an actress. "It frustrates me that the great-looking headphones sound s*****, and great-sounding headphones look s*****, so we are changing all that. These are cans for super hard-core listeners."

Only 1,000 pairs of the REDphones will be built, each engraved with a serial number. "When they're gone, you'll just have to find them on eBay," Soderbergh taunts.

How high-end are these cans? They're made from magnesium, a metal that usually explodes when you try to shape it. They'll also have custom-built drivers, custom-crafted leather, and LEMO connectors, which have a latch system that stops your cord breaking if you accidentally yank it too hard. Soderbergh promises they'll be made in the US, but hasn't decided by whom.

The former director isn't sitting around playing dominoes while RED does the hard work either -- he's writing a novella on Twitter as well as a third book on filmmaking.

RED makes incredibly expensive super high-res digital cameras, which have been used in a number of serious movie productions, including Soderbergh's own Che. Here's the man himself explaining his relationship with the cameras (from around 3:30):

Soderbergh is hardly the first celebrity to attach his name to a pair of cans, with Beats in particular very keen on musicians wearing them in their music videos. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber have had their own ranges, with hip-hop hospitaller Dr Dre a key figure behind the Beats brand.

There's no word on when Soderbergh's top-notch earblasters will be available or how much they'll cost. What would you pay for them? Which other unlikely celebs should release headphones? Nominate your faves in the comments, or on our custom-built Facebook page.

Image credit: Alt Film Guide