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 Manns Chinese Theater, the Kodak Theater and the El Capitan Theater are
located. We literally controlled those streets for a week, and thats 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 wouldnt have been the same without
the charismatic little cars. The MINIs 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 MINIs maneuverability. Theyre quick,
theyre nimble, theyre compact, and they happen to be very stylish as well.
Its 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. Its 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.