McLaren races to the movies

Hollywood is getting some Woking, England, flair this summer.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, a spinoff of the wildly popular Fast & Furious movie franchise, stars one of McLaren Automotive's supercars, the 720S, alongside Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham and Idris Elba.

The movie, which Variety reported had a budget of $200 million and took in $60.8 million in its first weekend in North America, is more of an action film than it is about cars. But because it's tied to the Fast & Furious franchise, which started with street racing, vehicles play a prominent role.

Jamie Corstorphine, McLaren's global marketing director, said the British automaker's involvement goes back to the concept development of the movie, released in U.S. theaters this month.

According to Corstorphine, when film director David Leitch showed Statham some concept sketches drawn up for the movie, one vehicle stuck out.

"It just happened to feature a McLaren, and Jason, who's a big car fan and [a fan] of McLaren, was so enthusiastic about seeing the car in the concept sketches, he was pretty insistent that the production company and David try to get McLaren in," Corstorphine told Automotive News.

Corstorphine recalled being open to the idea when McLaren was approached about the film but wanted to learn more about the storyline and scenes in which a McLaren would be shown. Leitch and Statham met with the automaker. Statham got his wish.

"It takes a reasonable amount of effort to manage but it's absolutely worth it," said Corstorphine of McLaren's involvement. "Not only from the screen time and exposure in the commercial materials for our audience of buyers and prospective buyers now, but absolutely for the fans of the next generation.

"We've put a lot of effort into working with the likes of Lego, Microsoft Forza and other computer game franchises to broaden the visibility of the McLaren brand and models for the next generation of buyers. That's what you have to do. It's the modern-day equivalent of the posters on the bedroom wall."

He noted that the film franchise has been a large draw in China, an expanding market for the automaker.

Corstorphine said McLaren is in roughly six scenes in the first part of the movie. Statham's character is shown driving a 720S, a member of McLaren's Super Series.

"The 720S was the ideal model," Corstorphine said. "It's the core of our range and displays all the key DNA for McLaren. It had the performance and technology hallmarks that fit with the storyline."

The automaker loaned two 720S cars, which were used for close-up shots, and three Sports Series models that were used as set dressing. The film's production company bought two more vehicles for stunt work, Corstorphine said.

In one scene, three characters are shown inside the 720S, a two-seater. But that was movie magic. Corstorphine said for that scene, the filmmakers used an interior mock-up of a McLaren and a green screen, but not a vehicle.

Eagle-eyed moviegoers will also recognize the McLaren Technology Center, which was a filming location.

While McLarens have been seen in TV and in other movies, the spinoff presented the automaker with a larger audience.

"Certainly Hobbs & Shaw is a different level in terms of the on-screen placement, the number of scenes it's in, but also the visibility of the car in the promotional work," Corstorphine said.

This includes posters and billboards, plus film trailers such as the one featuring the 720S that ran during this year's Super Bowl.

For McLaren, the marketing push went beyond posters and trailers. The automaker had vehicles at July's world premiere of the movie in Hollywood, as well as the London premiere. The company shared photos of those events on social media. McLaren also held screenings of the movie with some of its dealers.