Hyundai and Sony's new deal could see Spider-Man in a Santa Fe
Expect Hyundai's tech to appear in a variety of Sony Pictures flicks over the next few years.
Automaker partnerships with the movie industry are nothing new, the Marvel Cinematic Universe being one of the most obvious in recent memory. It's a simple formula: Take a blockbuster movie, throw in an actual brand or two and hope that results in boosted sales. Hyundai's about to take a big bet along these lines, putting itself into cahoots with a studio that has some big flicks on the horizon.
Hyundai announced this week that it has inked a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment that will put the Korean automaker's products and technologies into a number of upcoming Sony pictures. According to the release, Hyundai's IP will make its way into five different forthcoming movies, including the follow-ups to Spider-Man: Far From Home and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The former is scheduled to release in late 2021, with the latter arriving in late 2022. Other collaborations will be announced at a later date, Hyundai said.
While it's entirely possible my headline could come true, that's likely not the direction Hyundai will take. By the sounds of its press release, it appears this partnership goes well beyond hawking crossovers . The release makes mention of all sorts of things, including "a wide range of opportunities to leverage Sony Pictures IP for marketing content and immersive entertainment, collaborate on infrastructure and vehicular concepts for Sony Pictures movies, co-create virtual reality and gaming experiences, and co-produce events, among other opportunities."
It sounds like there will be a big focus on more futuristic technologies that are often relegated to small-scale models on display stands at trade shows. The release specifically mentions "future mobility," and Hyundai's got plenty to show off to that end. At this year's CES , Hyundai brought a whole-ass flying car to the show, bolstered by a concept it called "the Hub," a sort of proto-community space centered around using new methods of transportation to get across crowded cities. That's the kind of pie-in-the-sky stuff that'll fit right in alongside the whiz-bang CG of a modern Spider-Man movie.
