The Hire: The Follow is the fourth installment in the BMW films series, written by Andrew Kevin Walker and directed by Wong Kar-wai. It stars Clive Owen, Forest Whitaker, Adriana Lima and Mickey Rourke. The Driver (Owen) is hired to follow an ageing movie star's (Rourke) young wife (Lima), whom he suspects of infidelity.
The BMW Films were originally intended to be webcast only. A promotional DVD was made for in-house circulation, and its ensuing popularity (and emergence on eBay) convinced parties involved to distribute the collection in hard copy. The original pressing did not include The Follow; the film was removed from the BMW Films website. Internet rumours attributed the cause to a contract dispute with Whitaker, who had only signed to do an online promotional film, and who exercised a contractual right to remove The Follow from wide circulation promotional DVDs for personal reasons.
The Follow is no longer available via webcast or DVD.
This episode of THE HIRE was missing from the DVD release in 2002, and only the trailer is found. As of September, 2003 it has been reattached to the DVD.
