MINI goes to Hollywood in 'The Italian Job'

Munich. MINI joins a stellar cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Edward
Norton, Charlize Theron, Jason Statham, Seth Green, Mos Def and Donald
Sutherland in the movie 'The Italian Job.' Although audiences will see
only three MINIs - one red, one white and one blue - the BMW Group
provided Paramount studios with a total of 32 MINIs for the filming.
The release date for the action-packed thrill-ride is May 30th - for
the time being only in Amerian cinemas. Premier dates for Europe and the
rest of the world will follow in the subsequent months. In 'The
Italian Job', mastermind thief Charlie Croker (Mark Wahlberg) pulls off
an amazing gold bullion heist from a heavily guarded palazzo in Venice,
Italy, only to be double-crossed by one of his crew. Seeking revenge,
Charlie recruits Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), a beautiful
nerves-of-steel safecracker, and along with his former gang, follows
the backstabber to California where they plan to re-steal the gold by
tapping into Los Angeles' complex traffic control system, then
manipulating signals to create havoc on the streets of L.A. Though no
stranger to major traffic jams, the city of Los Angeles has yet to
experience what filmmakers of 'The Italian Job' produced on film. In
fact, it took extensive planning to shut down two blocks of Hollywood
Boulevard, right where Mann's Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater and
the El Capitan Theater are located. "We literally controlled
those streets for a week, and that's a big deal," says producer
Donald De Line. "We had 300 cars and several armored trucks on the
ground, helicopters flying low overhead, and motorcycles and MINIs
driving down the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame sidewalk."
The elaborate stunt sequences had MINIs performing spectacular jumps,
withstanding numerous bullet hits and surviving a series of narrow
scrapes. The actors even drove the MINIs into the Metro Rail entrance
on Hollywood Boulevard, down the stairs and into the subway station!
Director F. Gary Gray admits that the movie wouldn't have been the same
without the charismatic little cars. "The MINI's personality is a
major driving force behind the third-act chase," says Gray, who
sent his actors to driving school so that they could better understand
the MINI's maneuverability. "They're quick, they're nimble,
they're compact, and they happen to be very stylish as well."
"It's really just a lovely car to drive," adds Charlize
Theron, who thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of driving school and
learning how to really push the MINI to its limits. "It's not
every day that you get to drive a car on the sidewalk of Hollywood
Boulevard over the stars of James Dean and Jean Harlow!" With its
products MINI One, MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S, MINI is a separate
brand within the BMW Group. The three MINI models are sold through a
sales network of selected MINI dealerships. MINI is sold worldwide as a
global brand.