BMW Films have released The Escape, a new BMW short film from Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) starring Clive Owen, Dakota Fanning, Jon Bernthal and Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga.
The film opens with a short intro explaining that a genetics company called Molecular Genetics has been experimenting with human clones. As the FBI closes in, the security contractors tasked with taking one of the clones away mounts an escape, hiring The Driver to whisk away Five (played by Dakota Fanning).
With The Escape, Blomkamp joins the A-list stable of original BMW Films directors from the seminal project including Academy Award winners Alejandro G. Iñárritu and Ang Lee; Joe Carnahan, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, John Woo and the late John Frankenheimer and Tony Scott.
“When we commissioned The Escape, our only direction was that the story remain of utmost importance—and that it should live up to the standards set by The Hire,” said BMW SVP Hildegard Wortmann. “Neill, Clive and the entire cast did a tremendous job, and we are confident that The Escape not only meets that standard, but sets a new one.”
“I was like, ‘Man, count me in,’ ” Blomkamp told The Hollywood Reporter. “When I was in film school, these films were really groundbreaking. They seemed like the perfect halfway point between commercials and features. I actually emailed the production company as a 20-year-old and was like, ‘I’d really like to make one of these.’ They wrote back, ‘Never contact us again.’ And here I am [laughs].”
