Lexus Stars as Vehicle of the Future in Spielberg's "Minority Report"
For Immediate Release
(06/18/2002) TORRANCE, CA
Lexus Cast as Vehicle of the Future in Spielberg's "Minority Report"
For Lexus, it's every Hollywood hopeful's dream come true: a featured role alongside Tom Cruise in a Steven Spielberg summer blockbuster.
The filmmaker cast the luxury auto brand as the car of the future in his critically acclaimed film, "Minority Report," which opened on June 21 as the weekend's top box-office draw . The film stars Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Max Von Sydow.
Based on a short story by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, the film is an action-detective thriller set in Washington, D.C. in 2054, where police utilize a psychic technology to arrest and convict murderers before they commit their crime. Cruise plays the head of this precrime unit and is himself accused of the future murder of a man he hasn't even met.
When it came time to conceptualize automotive travel for the futuristic setting, Spielberg didn't have to look any further than his own driveway for inspiration. "I've been driving a Lexus SUV," said Spielberg. "And I thought Lexus might be interested in holding hands with us and going into a speculative future to see what the transportation systems and cars would look like on our highways in fifty years. The result of that exploration is something that elevates and transforms driving into an environmental experience."
Ultimately, two featured Lexus vehicles were developed for the film - a radical red sports car and a private pod that rides on a vast urban magnetic levitation (MAG-LEV) system.
The sports car was designed for scenes calling for Cruise's character to drive outside the city limits and was tailor-built to fit the star. The futuristic high-performance two-seat coupe flexes a muscular design with the ultimate in cab-forward seating, a low, enclosed wheelbase for sportiness, aggressive lines, and proportions so unexpected that, at first glance, it's not entirely evident which end is the front and which is the rear.
The second vehicle - a private "pod" - rides on the film's urban MAG-LEV system and features a full-glass roof and doors that, similar to sliding glass doors, open from the center to allow the occupant to step out. The MAG-LEV system itself operates on electrical/magnetic energy; much like that which sends a bullet train speeding along;with buildings and horizontal surfaces covered with "roadways" made of magnetic discs that support and propel various vehicles. In this accident-free, computer-controlled system, pods move at speeds of 80 to 100 miles per hour. In the future city's transportation layout, private pods, taxis and multi-passenger cars all negotiate the MAG-LEV system÷making seamless transitions between vertical and horizontal surfaces.
Conceptual artist Harald Belker - whose film design credits also include "Batman & Robin," "Inspector Gadget" and "Armageddon" - created the custom Lexus vehicles. Spielberg, Belker, Calty (Toyota/Lexus design studio) and a team of futurists met early in the development process to speculate on what the future of automotive travel might hold, with Lexus ultimately providing styling, luxury and performance cues for the vehicles' designs. The vehicles were constructed by CTEK, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based technology design and development firm.
"We're thrilled to be a part of this," said Denny Clements, Lexus group vice president and general manager. "We had the opportunity to dream about what cars and transportation might be like in the future, and then see that dream played out in the vision of one of the greatest filmmakers of all time·it doesn't get much better than that."
A promotional campaign for Lexus and "Minority Report" was also developed and includes an online futuristic game that transports visitors to the year 2054 (Lexus.com), national television advertising, screening programs, in-theatre displays, and dealership extensions. Die-cast models of the Lexus "Minority Report" sports car will also be available through The Sharper Image.
Lexus has become synonymous with luxury since its introduction in 1989. By offering some of the finest quality luxury vehicles and providing benchmark customer service, Lexus has become the top-selling luxury nameplate in the United States for two years in a row. Lexus and its 197 dealers have repeatedly achieved the highest honors for both the products they sell and the customer service they provide as rated by the independent research firm of J.D. Power and Associates.
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Contact:
Lexus Public Relations
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