I am assuming that most Mini owners are aware of the movie "The Italian Job". It is probably the best non-advertising display of the Mini Cooper's versatility. It ends up being the featured star of the movie. Chalize Theron gets to drive the "S" model

 

Non-advertising? You are kidding, right? :-)
Product placement like that costs lots of money, and is major income for the movie, and is considered advertising.
Cheers,
H

 

Before its release, Paramount invited MINI owners to a special premiere of the flick.
I got to go . . . along with over two hundred other MINIacs.

Check this out


And here's a pic of the other Mini Charlize Theron drove in the movie.

 

I swear I'm in that picture somewhere!

That was a good night.

And btw to the initial poster, BMW was instrumental in the remaking of this movie. They organised it and everything. It's all a conspiracy.

 

I'm near the lower right-hand corner.
You can only see the back of my head.

 

That's my LY/B MCS kinda to the left (which was actually the center of the screen)

They asked if the director could stand in front of my MCS to be interviewed because he liked my MCS's color.

Then they interviewed some of us that were there for the showing.

They also supplied us with In-N-Out burgers

It was a lot of fun.

Earl

 

I went to a test-shoot for X-men 3 casting here in Vancouver. They're going to contact me if my car gets in. I get put in a database for other film/tv projects too.

 

That was advertising at its finest! Perhaps the original has less purposeful product placement (it was a very different film industry back in 1969), but anything that blatant in this day and age is very obviously deliberate. Just take 2 Fast 2 Furious' obvious Mitsubihi sponsonship.

Just just to further the conspiracy flames, I beleive the going rumour is that The Brazilian Job (the sequel to the remake) is not going to use MINIs at all... Now that, my friends, is blasphemy...

 

I would agree that its blasphemy to make "The Brazilian Job" without a MINI (or three) in it, but imagine the fun the studios could have with this ca$h cow.

Manufacturers witness the success of the first movie, then compete to put THEIR cars in the next project. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mustangs used for "The Brazilian Job".

Of course, the '07 MINI is a distinct possibility, as well.

Back on the Seinfeld show, it was quite a coup for Cannondale to place one of their bikes on the apartment wall. Cost 'em a pretty penny, too.

Unfortunately, one of the stars, prolly Seinfeld himself, likes Kleins better, so the Cannondale would be removed quite frequently. Became quite a game for placement managers.

There there's Madonna: liked the fully suspended Cannondales quite a bit, company got wind of this, and she gets two delivered, gratis.

Then one of her flunky (p)syc(h)ophants calls Cannondale, with the temerity to say that Madonna requires some SIX more $2000-plus Cannondales.

Cannondale says no. Hey, gotta draw the line somewhere, right? I'm sure there's a parable in there somewhere, like the goose that laid the golden egg, right?

Cheers,
Matthew Z.

 

Is this on the Paramount Picture on Melrose? I know I was there but can’t see my Minis.

 

I can totally forgive and overlook any alleged product placement in '03s The Italian Job. I think the main issue surrounds how they chose to re-make the original film at all. Which came first...the decision to remake the film? In this case it had to have MINIs...no doubt about it. If, however the new MINI came first and then they decided, "Hey, lets showcase this hot little car by remaking The Italian Job", yeah, that's a bit more extreme, but still very true to the original conceptually. I suspect the truth lies somewhere in between or contains a little of both these thought processes. Highly forgivable either way in this particular case.

To me pure product placement implies the superfluous inclusion of a product in a way that has little bearing on the essential character of the film. The Italian Job is not this way, imo...MINIs had to be there to be a true remake of the venerable classic in which Minis figures so prominently (which has never typically been considered product placement either).

The release of the film in '03 was a sort of golden age for MINI owners, I'll tell you that. Great MINI fun. As for next film.....I'm worried.

 

AC,

This indeed was that same event. I'm sure you also remember the big line of MINIs on Melrose waiting to get in, and the looks we were all getting from passersby.

The above snapshot doesn't even show half the MINIs/Minis that were there! There were still a sh*tload more behind where the photographer (not I) was standing. Plus, there were the ones that didn't get in to the "drive-in" section.

 

has anyone heard of when the next italian job might be coming out?

 

so......i decided to do a search to see if i came up with anything about the make of the next movie and this is all i got http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427396/

there are message boards and someone said he thought production might begin this fall but who knows, and then some a**hole saying that minis are lame and should not be in the next movie - can you believe that?

 

OMG, THERE'S A MOVIE WITH MINIS IN IT???!?!?!!?! Are you serious???!










































Kidding, of course.

The next question would have to be "Is it out on Beta?"