| The Hire | |
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| Distributed by | BMW Films |
Running time | 64 minutes (total of all eight films) |
| Country | USA |
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| Budget | $9 million[2] |
TheBMW film seriesThe Hire consists of eight short films (averaging about ten minutes each) produced for internet distribution in 2001 and 2002. A form ofbranded content, the shorts were directed by popular filmmakers from around the globe and starredClive Owen as "the Driver" while highlighting the performance aspects of various BMW automobiles. The series made a comeback in 2016, fourteen years after its original run ended.
This series of short films center on a nameless protagonist, known as "The Driver" (Clive Owen), who is a highly-proficient professional driver of BMW automobiles. The plot of each film varies, but each involves the Driver being hired to perform tasks for a client, typically to transport important individuals and/or cargo while evading pursuit.
While escorting an elderly man in the middle of the night, the Driver is confronted by a van full of armed thieves and is told that the old man is carrying a large amount of diamonds. The old man claims to have swallowed the diamonds and that the men will likely cut him open to retrieve them. The Driver decides to save his client and attempts to evade the van while being shot at. The Driver eventually baits the thieves into dying in a collision with a parked bulldozer. The Driver delivers the old man to his destination and asks if he really swallowed the diamonds. The client merely chuckles and walks away before the Driver departs.
The Driver is hired to protect an Asian holy child who is brought to America by boat. The child gives the Driver a gift, but tells him not to open it yet. After being pursued by kidnappers and being grazed in the ear by a gunshot, he successfully delivers the boy to a waiting monk. However, the child signals silently to the Driver that the man is an imposter, indicated by his footwear, just visible under his robe. The impostor monk tries to kidnap the child, but the Driver thwarts him and rescues the boy. Before leaving, the Driver opens the gift, which is revealed to be anadhesive bandage (depicting The Incredible Hulk, a reference to Ang Lee's film) for his bleeding ear.
The Driver is hired by a nervous manager to spy on a paranoid actor's wife. The Driver narrates while following the wife, describing the right methods to survey someone, as well as his fear of what he might learn of the wife's tragic life. He eventually discovers the wife is fleeing the country to return to her mother inBrazil, and that she's been given a black eye—likely by her husband. The Driver returns the job's money to the manager, refuses to tell him where the wife is, and tells him to never call him again before driving off.
The Driver is chosen by a spoiled and shallow celebrity to drive her to a venue. Unbeknownst to her, her manager has actually hired the Driver to teach the celebrity a lesson. Pretending to escape her pursuing bodyguards, the Driver drives recklessly through the city, tossing the hapless celebrity all around the backseat. They eventually arrive at the venue, where she is thrown out of the car and photographed bypaparazzi in an embarrassing end on the red carpet.
In a war-torn Latin-American country,war photographer Harvey Jacobs witnesses a massacre and is wounded trying to escape. TheUN assigns the Driver to rescue Jacobs from hostile territory. Jacobs tells the Driver about the horrors he saw as a photographer, and his regrets for being unable to help any victims. He gives the Driver the film needed for aNew York Times story and hisdog tags, which are to be given to his mother. When they reach the border they are confronted by a guard, who becomes hostile when Jacobs is taking pictures and refuses to stop. The Driver drives through a hail of gunfire towards safety, but finds Jacobs has died in the escape. The Driver returns to America to visit Jacobs' mother, returning his dog tags and telling her that Jacobs had won thePulitzer Prize.
The Driver is hired by theFederal Bureau of Investigation to help defuse a hostage situation. A disgruntled employee has kidnapped a CEO and has hidden her, demanding $5,088,042 for her release. The Driver delivers the money, writing the sum on his hand as instructed by the hostage taker, and is then ordered to burn the money. As he complies, the federal agents break in and attempt to subdue the man, who shoots himself in the head without revealing the woman's location. The Driver surmises the ransom amount is actually the woman's cellphone number, and tracks her location to the trunk of a sinking car. The woman is rescued and brought to the hospital to confront the kidnapper. It is revealed that she and the kidnapper were actually lovers, and the woman coldly tells the kidnapper she only used him for sex before he dies.
In an unnamed foreign country, a man carrying a mysterious briefcase survives an ambush en route to his destination. The Driver rescues and escorts the man while under helicopter attack. During the chase, the briefcase is struck by a bullet, causing it to leak grey fluid and the number on its display to begin counting down. The Driver manages to cause the helicopter to crash, but refuses to proceed without knowing the contents of the damaged briefcase. It is revealed that the man guards a human heart that is to betransplanted into the nation's leader, who has brought peace and prosperity to the country for many years. Should he die, his heir will be a tyrannical army General, whose soldiers had been attempting to stop them the entire time. The Driver finally reaches a military base and brings the heart to waiting surgeons, who successfully save the leader from dying. The General tries to intervene, but realizes he has failed and decides to leave with his men.
The Driver is employed byJames Brown, who goes to meet theDevil to re-negotiate the deal he made as a young man, in which hetraded his soul for fame and fortune. James is worried about his aging and the fact he can no longer perform like he used to. To renew his contract, James proposes that they have adrag race on theLas Vegas Strip at dawn, wagering the Driver's soul for another 50 years of success. The race ends with the Driver swerving to pass a moving train, while the Devil's car (a flamedPontiac Firebird) crashes and explodes. Having won the race, the Driver leaves James Brown in the desert, but as he drives away he sees him as a young man again. The final scene showsMarilyn Manson, who lives down the hall from the Devil, complaining that the noise is disturbing hisBible reading.
Four smaller movies, dubbed "The Subplot Movies" were shot and directed byBen Younger. Lacking any real style (and appearing to be shot with a standard consumer-level DV-cam), they were designed to "fill in the gaps" between the five films and featured a man who appeared to be tracking the Driver, finding "clues" usually scribbled, in pen, on small pieces of paper. The films, at first glance, have no real connection to the Driver movies at all and made no real sense – they contained "clues" that were part of analternate reality game that would lead intuitive fans to a party in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After the disappearance ofgeneticist Dr. Nora Phillips, the Molecular Genetics company's illegal activities in humancloning become exposed and the FBI raids the facility. One surviving specimen, Lily, is escorted by a ruthless mercenary named Holt to be delivered to an unknown client. The Driver is hired to transport the package with Holt accompanying him, along with an armed convoy of other mercenaries. When the Driver realizes that Lily possesses humanity, he forces Holt to get out of the car. The Driver thwarts Holt and his mercenaries in a pursuit and then drives the girl to a harbor, where she is happily reunited with Dr. Phillips, the unknown client who hired the Driver.
BMW's idea for the series came from the fact that 85% of its customers shop online before purchasing their cars. If BMW could attract the right kind of traffic to their website, the type of person who enjoys art films from influential directors and actors, they could translate that into sales.[5] BMW stated that John Frankenheimer's filmRonin served as creative inspiration forThe Hire series,[6] as well asThe French Connection andLe Mans.[4]
On April 26, 2001, John Frankenheimer'sAmbush premiered on the BMW Films website and, two weeks later, was followed by Ang Lee'sChosen.[7] Soon after, director Wong Kar-Wai was tapped to make a third film entitledThe Follow, a dramatic piece about a runaway wife being followed by "the Driver". The films debuted at theCannes Film Festival and received mixed reviews, perhaps due to the films' purpose as advertising.[6] They were followed by Guy Ritchie'sStar and Alejandro González Iñárritu'sPowder Keg.[8][1]
After the series began, BMW saw their 2001 sales increase 12% 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 who were registered to the site sent film links to their friends and family.[9][10] The films were so popular that BMW produced a free DVD for customers who visited certain BMW dealerships. Due to demand, BMW ran out of DVDs. In September, BMW andVanity Fair magazine collaborated to distribute a second DVD edition ofThe Hire in the magazine.[11][8] TheVanity Fair disc did not include Wong Kar-Wai'sThe Follow.Forest Whitaker had an uncredited part inThe Follow and had only agreed to be in the film if it were shown exclusively on the Internet. When the movie was released on DVD, Whitaker allegedly exercised an option in his contract which stipulated that the movie would not be released in any other format without authorization from the actor himself. TheVanity Fair disc, in lieu of carryingThe Follow, contained a link to the website with instructions to the viewer to watch the movie online.[12]
The DVD was highly sought on Internet forums after the September 2001 issue ofVanity Fair quickly vanished from shelves and became a rare find. The movies were reviewed byTime Magazine andThe New York Times, who praised BMW for creating entertaining content for "discerning movie watchers".[8]
The series continued in October 2002, replacing producer David Fincher withRidley and Tony Scott due to Fincher's continuing work onPanic Room. Season 2 debuted with a dark action/comedy piece by Tony Scott calledBeat the Devil. The movie, shot in Scott's trademark pseudo-psychedelic style, featuredJames Brown enlisting the Driver to take him toLas Vegas to re-work a decades-old deal he made with the devil that evidently gave Brown his "fame and fortune".[13] To celebrate the premiere of the second season, BMW threw a party at theArcLight Hollywood on October 17, 2002, just a week before the film's internet debut. The party, co-hosted byVanity Fair, was also a charity and benefit for the homeless.[14][15] A month after the premiere ofBeat the Devil,DirecTV began airing the entire series in half-hour loops for five weeks on one of the blank satellite channels the system offered. The films were a success and, as a result, DirecTV considered using blank channels to air other companies' ads.[16]
In 2003, BMW decided to make a third (and final) DVD compilation ofThe Hire. The new DVD made its debut at The Palais des Festival during the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and contained all eight movies, including Wong Kar-Wai's previously absentThe Follow.[12][8] Once again, the disc became available at select dealerships, but fans could also obtain the disc for a nominal shipping fee via the BMW Films website.[citation needed] The film series was added to the permanent collection of theMuseum of Modern Art.[4]
During the last quarter of 2004,Dark Horse Comics and BMW planned to publish a 6-issue comic booklimited series based on the main character of the films. The books were written byKurt Busiek,Bruce Campbell,Katsuhiro Otomo, andMark Waid as well as other comic book talents.[17] Only four books were produced. "Tycoon" was the last book released (in December 2005). While the comics are still able to be purchased in collector shops and some comic book stores, they are no longer available for purchase on the BMW website.[citation needed]
On October 21, 2005, BMW stopped distribution ofThe Hire on DVD and removed all eight films from the BMW Films website just four years after the first film debuted.[8] The series was abandoned, reportedly because the project had become too expensive. BMW's Vice President of Marketing James McDowell, originator of the BMW Films project, left BMW to become the VP of sales and marketing for BMW's "Mini USA" division. BMW also split from longtime ad partnerFallon Worldwide, which was the creative production outlet for the series. BMW's German division had attempted to become involved with the US division of the company, cutting costs.[18] The series had been viewed over 100 million times in four years and had changed the way products were advertised.[8]
In early 2006, BMW released a line of free "BMW Audiobooks" to take advantage of the growing popularity of portable MP3 players (and the fact that most BMW's came with an iPod dock pre-installed in their vehicles). While the stories had the same pulp-action feel asThe Hire, the character of the Driver was absent. The audiobooks were free (like the films that preceded them) but are no longer available for download from the BMW website.[19]
On February 17, 2007,MINI (BMW) launched a new short film series calledHammer & Coop. The series is a comedic parody of 1970s action-television shows likeStarsky & Hutch andCharlie's Angels, and showcases BMW'sMini Cooper line of cars as the featured product.[20]
On September 20, 2016, it was reported that BMW Films has resurrectedThe Hire fourteen years after the original production wrapped, withClive Owen returning to reprise his role as the Driver. The first episode was revealed to be titledThe Escape, which premiered on October 23, 2016, on BMW Films' official website.[21]
In 2023 BMW releasedThe Calm, starringPom Klementieff andUma Thurman. Produced byJoseph Kosinski and directed bySam Hargrave, the new film features theBMW i7 M70.[22][23]
Shortly after the release of the "Subplot Films", reports circulated around the Internet that Apple, Starbucks, BMW Films First Illinois Mortgage, and Susstones' all had a small, hidden link on their website that had a direct connection with the movies. Upon further investigation, three phone numbers and a web address were found in the four films, which led many viewers to call those numbers and go to that website.
Thousands took to the web, taking place in the hunt but only 250 solved the puzzle, which allowed the lucky few to be entered in a drawing to win a 2003 BMW Z4, seen inHostage.
The final piece of the puzzle was a voicemail, instructing participants to meet with a correspondent in Las Vegas, the site of a VIP Party for BMW where the Grand Prize Z4 was given away to a couple fromBellingham, Washington.[24][25] The first prize was a BMW Q3.s mountain bike, awarded to a student from theUniversity of New Hampshire.
The game was designed and co-written byMark Sandau and Russ Stark.[26][27]
Several companies attempted to capitalize on the success of BMW's film series.[4]
In 2002,Nissan produced its own short film featuring their newly introduced350Z. EntitledThe Run, the film was directed by John Bruno, aJames Cameron protege who worked with Cameron onTrue Lies,The Abyss, andTerminator 2: Judgment Day. The film was shown in theaters before feature films in November 2002. Nissan offered a DVD of the film for $9.95.[28]
Mercedes-Benz followed BMW's lead in 2002 advertising theSL 500 inLucky Star, directed byMichael Mann and starringBenicio del Toro.[29] In 2004, Mercedes releasedThe Porter, a 15-minute film by director Jan Wentz, starringMax Beesley andBryan Ferry.
A few years later, Bombardier Recreational Products company introduced a series of short movies on the Internet which showcased their "Sea-Doo" line ofpersonal water craft (PWC)[30] while Covad Business also constructed a campy internet horror film based on their products calledThe Ringing with the intent of showcasingVoIP technology.[31]
The Transporter was also based onThe Hire film series as Luc Besson has said in interviews. In fact, many of the elements seen inThe Hire were incorporated intoThe Transporter, right down to the BMW automobile.[32]
Around the same timeThe Hire made its comeback in October 2016, theFord Motor Company produced its very own short film, advertising their new car, the 2015Ford Edge incorporated into a story, starringMads Mikkelsen as the titular character inLe Fantôme, directed byJake Scott, who co-produced the second season ofThe Hire.[33]
The Transporter is based on the BMW film series, The Hire.
| Preceded by | Grand CLIO Award for Television/Cinema 2002 | Succeeded by |
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