“The Hire” Returns With “The Escape”

On October 23, 2016, at 6:00 p.m. EST, BMW of North America brought BMW Films back online with “The Escape,” released on BMWFilms.com. The short film reunited Clive Owen with his role as the Driver, paired him with director Neill Blomkamp, and cast Dakota Fanning, Jon Bernthal, and Vera Farmiga-a lineup that made the comeback feel like entertainment culture, not brand content.

BMW framed the release as a centerpiece moment tied to its motorsport season, yet the subtext felt bigger: a return to a format the brand once used to build desire through narrative instead of product talk. “The Escape” also brought back key architects of the original run-Bruce Bildsten (creative direction), Brian DiLorenzo (executive producer), and David Carter (creative consultant and co-writer)-so the project could carry continuity in tone, pacing, and attitude.

At the time, the original BMW Films – “The Hire” already lived in the industry’s collective memory as something closer to a film series than a campaign. BMW described the project as eight short films released over two seasons (2001–2002), each built around the same central character and driven by a director roster that included names like John Frankenheimer, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, Guy Ritchie, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and others. Season 1 began on April 26, 2001 with Frankenheimer’s “Ambush,” and BMW said that first season drew over 11 million views in four months, with David Fincher serving as executive producer.

Two ripple effects from that earlier era snapped back into focus the moment “The Escape” was announced. First, BMW pointed to scale: the series accumulated more than 100 million views in a period that predated mass high-speed streaming and the YouTube economy, which helped BMW turn its own site into a destination rather than a brochure.

Second, the series translated into institutional and awards-world recognition that brands rarely touch. BMW’s U.S. press release records that on June 8, 2003, bmwfilms.com’s The Hire was inducted into MoMA’s permanent collection, with all eight films screened in New York as part of the AICP awards-week programming.

“The Escape” arrived as a reminder of what BMW learned early: when a car brand invests in directors, scripts, and a character audiences want to follow, the payoff shows up as cultural capital-press attention, creative credibility, and a halo that spreads far beyond one model cycle. It was a brand move built to travel.