Communiqué de presse: MINI goes to Hollywood in "The Italian Job."

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 One D, MINI Cooper and MINI Cooper S, MINI is
a separate brand within the BMW Group. The four MINI models are sold through a
sales network of selected MINI dealerships. MINI is sold worldwide as a global
brand.

In Belgium "The Italian Job" will be released on 17th September