Clive Owen Returns in New BMW Films Short “The Escape”

It’s been 15 years since BMW made its first foray into Hollywood with BMW Films and its short film series “The Hire.” In celebration of that milestone, and to plug the new 2017 BMW 5 Series, BMW Films produced a new short film titled “The Escape,” starring Clive Owen who reprises his role as the driver.

The short film, which runs roughly 13 and a half minutes, begins with some TV news clips that help set up the story. We’re introduced to a company called MolGen that has apparently been illegally experimenting with cloning. The company’s evil plans have been exposed and now private security forces have been hired to destroy evidence and deliver the last “specimen,” played by Dakota Fanning, to an unknown customer. With the FBI banging down the door, one of the private security mercenaries, played by Jon Bernthal of “The Walking Dead” fame, forcibly takes Fanning’s character out back for transport. It’s here that we see the new 5 Series, a 540i model, with none other than Clive Owen at the wheel.

The two get into the car and a chase ensues. Whether it’s because something rubs the driver the wrong way about Bernthal or he had ulterior motives the whole time, he veers off course and orders the mercenary out of the car. Now the 5 Series has to evade sniper fire from a helicopter, all while giving the camera glamorous close-up shots of the car’s redesigned front end and letting the audience hear that turbocharged 3.0-liter straight-six at full song. The 540i might seem like a questionable choice for a getaway car, but the twin-turbo V-8-powered 550i isn’t available at launch. That means the turbo-six’s 335 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque of will have to do for this big-budget product placement.

The driver delivers the specimen and drives off, presumably to the next the job. The story is short but action-packed, and like the original “The Hire” series, features Hollywood-level production value. It’s unclear if BMW Films has more installments in store, but the Bavarian brand certainly has new models on the horizon that Clive Owen could potentially promote. Check out the full short film below.

Source: BMW via YouTube

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