BMW Films were a series of short web movies, before the launch of YouTube, that starred big celebrities and advertised BMW automobiles. Clive Owen starred as the unnamed professional driver hired by people around the world for tasks. Owen’s role in these films helped the rumors that Owen would be playing James Bond instead of Daniel Craig. Directors like John Woo and Guy Ritchie directed many of these films, and even Madonna ended up starring in one. For many automotive manufacturers, these films became inspiration for their own advertising campaigns in the future. According to Ad Age, BMW will be reprising their BMW Films for a new set of vehicles and a new audience.

Aside from making Clive Owen an international movie star, “The Hire” series inspired the movie franchise The Transporter. The films were also significantly ahead of their time. BMW spent very little money on the actual promotion of the films, and spent most of the money on the production of the films. Production quality was high, but if someone wanted to see one of the short films they were required to visit BMW’s website to view them. They ended up very popular despite many peoples’ lack of high-speed Internet to watch them.

The latest series of i Brand commercials on television take a very cinematic approach. Even though they do not have the length of these short films, these commercials are demonstrate where BMW would like to take its advertising in the near-term. We wouldn’t be surprised if the i Brand vehicles are the ones featured in the new BMW Films. It would be nice to see Clive Owen’s role reprised for the new set of films.

We hope that BMW is as successful as they were over a decade ago with the new series. Once they being to air, we will be sure to cover them here. In the meantime, check out all the previous films over on YouTube.