BMW Films return after a near-15-year absence with The Escape, starring Clive Owen, Dakota Fanning, Jon Bernthal and the new 2017 ‘G70’ BMW 5 Series.
Proof if it were needed, that Clive Owen is a badass has emerged courtesy of the latest instalment from BMW Films, The Escape.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen an Owen/BMW collaboration. Back in 2001 (before the emergence of YouTube), BMW Films produced a series of eight, ten-minute vignettes called The Hire starring Owen as The Driver. Directed by Ang Lee (Hulk), Tony Scott (Top Gun) and John Frankenheimer (Ronin) among others, the stories would follow The Driver across the USA to would use a BMW 740i, M5 or Z3 among others to escape from various nefarious lowlifes. Violence, tyre squeal, the occasional explosion, you get the idea…
Now BMW Films and Owen have returned in The Escape, now joined by Dakota Fanning as Lily, a security risk during a time of illegal molecular genetics whom The Driver protects from her assailants, and Jon Bernthal as Holt, the gun-toting d-bag intent on tracking her down.
Directed by Neil Blomkap, it’s surprisingly gripping stuff for what is, essentially, an extended promotional video for the brand new 2017 5 Series. Codenamed the G70, BMW has given the new seventh generation model an exterior makeover with the gentlest of brushes, the widened headlights and larger kidney grilles from the 7 Series being the most noticeable elements. Though slightly larger than its predecessor, the new G70 also weighs in 100kg lighter thanks to large amounts of aluminium and magnesium being used in the build alongside high-strength steel.
Engine options meanwhile include the 249bhp ‘530i’ 2-litre turbo four-cylinder and a 335bhp ‘540i’ 3-litre turbo six-cylinder, each of which is mated with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and will hit 0-100kph in 6.2 secs and 5.1 secs respectively. Top of the drivetrain pops though is the 456bhp 4.4-litre twin-turbocharged V8 M550i xDrive, the all-wheel drive brute more than two seconds quicker to the ton than the 530i at four seconds flat. Expect more updates nearer the release date.
For now, it’s well worth quarter of an hour of your time to check out The Escape, if only for a quite brutal sequence involving a helicopter. You can also check out behind the scenes footage below too.
