BMW films
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The BMW film series The Hire began as a series of five short films (each about five minutes long) produced for the Internet in summer 2001. The films were directed by popular and aspiring directors. All starred Clive Owen as "The Driver". Of course, each film's story highlighted the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles. The first five films, as well as the Ben Younger-directed interludes, were executive-produced by David Fincher.
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History
The series proved to be immensely popular, and BMW produced a free DVD of the series, including extra features. At first, the DVD was not even marketed. A few copies were distributed to some BMW dealerships and automobile magazines, but they were in limited supply. Many dealerships had no idea that BMW had even made promotional films. To request a DVD from BMW's site, one had to visit the help center of the BMW Films site (http://www.bmwfilms.com) and email one's mailing address to the webmaster. Copies were slow to arrive at first, and as the method of obtaining the disc was spread solely by word of mouth, copies were highly prized. Discs were sold for large sums on eBay. Later, BMW sold the DVD directly through their website and a telephone number.
The first few pressings of the disc included all five films, but subsequent issues did not include The Follow because of rights issues (it is rumored that Forest Whitaker approved the film only for Internet distribution, not for any other venue).
After the films' success, BMW produced three more films in 2002, this time executive produced by brothers Ridley and Tony Scott, and called them "Season 2". All three featured BMW's newly introduced Z4 roadster, and Clive Owen returned as The Driver.
BMW now prominently sells a DVD compilation of all eight films, including The Follow, for a nominal shipping fee (which is identical for any shipping address worldwide) via the BMW Films website.
Details
The first five BMW films:
- Ambush IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283875/)
- Directed by John Frankenheimer
- Featured the BMW 7-Series
- Chosen IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283994/)
- Directed by Ang Lee
- Featured the BMW 5-Series
- The Follow IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285104/)
- Directed by Wong Kar-wai
- Featured the BMW 3-Series and the Z3 roadster
- Star IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286151/)
- Directed by Guy Ritchie (Madonna, as "The Star", is uncredited)
- Featured the BMW M5
- Powder Keg IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285930/)
- Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
- Featured the BMW X5
The next three films:
- Hostage IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338111/)
- Directed by John Woo
- Ticker IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340398/)
- Directed by Joe Carnahan
- Beat The Devil IMDb entry (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338768/)
- Directed by Tony Scott
Nissan
Nissan tried to capitalize on the popularity of the BMW films by producing their own short film featuring their newly reintroduced 350 Z roadster. The film was titled The Run and was directed by John Bruno (also worked on True Lies, The Abyss, and Terminator 2). The film was shown in theaters before feature films in November 2002. (The BMW films never had a theatrical release.) Nissan offered a DVD of the film for $9.95. However, The Run was never as popular as the BMW films.
External links
- BMW Films website (http://www.bmwfilms.com)
- BMW Films Season 1 site (http://www.bmwfilms.com/clap.asp?template=season1&country=&film=)