The legendary BMW Films are ready for primetime once again! According to a Facebook Post by BMW USA, Clive Owen will be the main star of the first BMW Film – titled “The Escape” – which will also feature Dakota Fanning, Vera Vermiga and Jon Bernthal. The first film is directed by hotshot director Neill Blomkamp – the South African–Canadian responsible for box office hits like District 9, Elysium and Chappie.
BMW has launched a teaser of the new film along with a microsite where more information will be released in the near future – www.bmwfilms.com
The branded films launched in 2001 and included A-List Hollywood directors/actors who helped BMW promote its Ultimate Driving Machines. Averaging about ten minutes each, a series eight short films produced for the internet viewing from 2001 to 2002. All eight films featured popular filmmakers from across the globe (Ang Lee, John Woo, Guy Ritchie and the late John Frankenheimer), starred Clive Owen as the “Driver”, and highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles.
The plots of each of the films differ, but one constant remains: Clive Owen plays “The Driver”, a man who goes from place to place (in presumably rented BMW automobiles), getting hired by various people to be a sort of transport for their vital needs. Many of you know Clive Owen as one of the Hollywood movie stars who played in Sin City, Inside Man, The International and Duplicity.
Other famous actors, singers or runway models were featured in the series: Mickey Rourke, Forest Whitaker, Adriana Lima, Madonna, Don Cheadle, Gary Oldman, James Brown or Marilyn Manson.
The series has been very successful in terms of marketing and public awareness with BMW sales numbers go up 12% in 2001 from the previous year. The movies were viewed over 11 million times in four months. Two million people registered with the website and a large majority of users, registered to the site, sent film links to their friends and family.
Now Owen is back and BMW likely hopes that social media will deliver even more awareness to those excellent marketing films.
