If AFFION CROCKETT doesn’t get a talent holding deal based off this clip alone, then there truly is no justice. This is BRILLIANT.Playing CHRIS BROWN, JAY-Z and even a light-skin KANYE WEST, the funny man takes aim at Breezy and takes a look at perhaps what the Run This Town clip really means.

In the future, leather-clad gangs will battle for supremacy on the rubble-strewn streets of New York City. They will carry torches and scowl a lot. There also will be a whole lot of overturned, burned-out vehicles, as is to be expected in any post-apocalyptic scenario. The future, it turns out, is vaguely reminiscent of “300,” or maybe “The Warriors,” or both.

That, in a nutshell, is the basic scenario of “Run This Town,” the much-anticipated video that brings together three of the hugest names in the music industry — Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West — and casts them as warlords in a 23rd-century turf war.

Anyway, here’s what you need to know about “Run This Town”: It’s three of the decade’s biggest artists, appearing on one of the year’s most talked-about songs, promoting the hugest rap album in recent memory (Jay’s The Blueprint 3, due September 11). It really doesn’t matter what they’re doing in the video — their combined wattage is that powerful.

So credit to director Anthony Mandler — who also helmed Jay’s VMA-nominated “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” clip — for changing things up. Jay and Kanye have never gotten this gritty, and Rihanna hasn’t looked this dark and menacing since her “Disturbia” clip (which, incidentally, was also directed by Mandler). The “Town” video is super-stylish; Mandler’s visuals create a war-torn world that’s dank and dangerous.

Given that “Run This Town” is, by its very definition, a star-driven vehicle, you couldn’t blame everyone involved if they mailed it in and coasted by on name and reputation alone. But no one does that here … not Mandler, not Jay, Rihanna or Kanye (though, strangely, he is noticeably absent for most of the clip’s first three minutes). If all superstars worked this hard, the world would be a better place … until it’s destroyed by the apocalypse, that is.

When it comes to his music videos, Jay-Z has logged some pretty serious frequent-flier miles.

The Brooklyn wordsmith ventured up north to Toronto for the “Big Pimpin’ ” video and even trekked overseas to Monaco for his “Show Me What You Got” clip. So where could he go for his next video, “Run This Town,” featuring Kanye West and Rihanna?

Back in time, maybe? Queens, New York? In fact, both!

In a 30-second preview of “Run This Town”, we see an angry, torch-wielded mob surrounding the trio in a post-apocalyptic setting that looks like a scene right out of “Mad Max.”

Anthony Mandler, who directed the video for Jay’s first single “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune),” is the man behind the camera and brings his cinematic touch to the clip. The visuals are unlike anything we’ve come to expect from Jay-Z in the past. From “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is …)” to I Just Wanna Luv U (Give It 2 Me)”, Jay has mastered being the life of the party. But “Run This Town,” with its action sequences and cast of extras is new territory for the MC.

The video was shot in Queens, New York recently and pictures of Jay, Kanye and Rihanna on the set leaked onto the Internet last week, revealing the artists clad in all black. Sources told MTV News at the time that more than 80 extras were on set at the historic Fort Totten Park, a preserved Civil War fortress.

In the preview, a number of extras can be seen, also clad in black and acting unruly while bearing torches.

The video premieres Thursday on MTV — and don’t miss Jay’s performance at the VMAs on September 13!